The Ueno Zoo (恩賜上野動物園: Onshi Ueno Dōbutsuen) is a zoo, owned by the government of Tokyo, and located in Taito Ward, Tokyo, Japan. Japan's first and now most famous zoo, it opened on March 20, 1882. Its location, a five-minute walk from the Park Exit of Ueno Station, makes access from Tokyo's public-transportation network convenient. The Ueno Zoo Monorail, the first monorail in the country, connects the eastern and western parts of the grounds.
The giant panda, Sumatrantiger, and western lowlandgorilla head the list of the zoo's population of 422 species (as of March, 2003). Ueno has more variety than any other zoo in the nation.
Within the limits in which it operates, the Ueno Zoo attempts to provide the animals an environment similar to the natural habitat.
Redistribution of the animals among Tokyo's other zoos (including Tama Zoo and Inokashira Nature Park) left Ueno without a lion. However, in response to public demand, Ueno borrowed a female from the Yokohama Municipal Zoo.
The Ueno Zoo is located within Ueno Park, a large urban park that is home to several museums, a small amusement park, and other attractions.
Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Science Museum, as well as a major public concert hall.
Nearby is the Ueno Tōshōgū, a Shinto shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Ueno is in the historical shitamachi, literally "down-town" district of Japan, a working class area rather than where the aristocrats and rich merchants lived.
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