In Japan, there was one zoo in particular that had a very large part in the War: The Ueno Zoo. The Ueno Zoological Garden is located in Ueno, which is right outside of Tokyo.
After the long-time zoo director Koga Tagamichi went into the military, Fukuda Saburō became the new director on August 1, 1941. In part of his first days in office, he made a "master plan" for dealing with the animals in the zoo. His final product categorized the animals into four "danger levels." The primary method for killing the animals was to be poison, either potassium cyanide or strychnine nitrate. In extreme emergencies, two Winchester rifles were kept on zoo grounds and zoo officials were trained to use them. The first group (most dangerous) included bears, the big cats, coyotes, striped hyenas, wolves, hippopotami, American bison, elephants, monkeys (mainly Hamadryas baboons), and poisonous snakes. In category two (“less dangerous animals”) could be found raccoons, badgers, foxes, giraffes, more monkeys, kangaroos, crocodiles, deer, eagles, and emus. Category three included water buffaloes, goats, turkeys, pigs, and the like, while category four had songbirds and turtles. Stage one was to deal with animals from categories one and two while Stage two was planned to deal with the animals from category three.
On August 16, 1943, Fukuda was called into the office of his boss, Inoshita Kiyoshi, the section chief for Tokyo’s public parks. There he
also met Koga who had returned to teach at the Army Veterinary School in Tokyo after a tour-of-duty in South-East Asia. Fukuda noted in his diary: “... the section chief told us, on the basis of an order by the governor, to kill the elephants and wild beasts [mōjū] by shooting. (Killing by poison)”.
The following list is how the animals were actually dealt with throughout 1943:
August 17: a North Manchurian brown bear and an Asian black bear (Japanese)
were poisoned (the poison, strychnine nitrate, was provided by
the Army Veterinary School and was mixed into the food);
August 18: a lion, a leopard, and an Asian black bear (Korean) were poisoned;
August 19: a North Manchurian brown bear was given poison, then the coup
de grâce was delivered with a lance;
August 21: an Asian black bear (Korean) was given poison, then
stabbed; another Asian black bear (Japanese) had not been fed for three days already and was strangled with a rope while sleeping;
August 22: two lions were poisoned, the tiger and the cheetah were killed
August 24: a polar bear died, presumably of starvation;
August 26: a black leopard and a
leopard were poisoned; the head of the rattlesnake was pierced
with wire, then a heated wire was tied around the neck and pulled, but the snake did not die until the next morning, after 16 hours, when a
thin cord was used around the neck;
August 27: the head of the python, who had been fed two rabbits not
even a week ago, was cut off and she died
after a while; the sun bear was poisoned; a black leopard and
a leopard were strangled with wire rope;
August 29: a polar bear, who had not yet died of starvation, was strangled with a
wire; an American bison was roped and killed by blows to the head
from a pickaxe and a hammer;
September 1: the second American bison was killed in the same way as the first;
September 11: a leopard cub, who had only been born in March, was poisoned.
In total, 24 animals (plus three elephants) were killed. After necropsies at
the Army Veterinary School, the carcasses were stuffed or skinned, the bones to be interred at the zoo’s monument for dead animals. A few were buried immediately.
After the long-time zoo director Koga Tagamichi went into the military, Fukuda Saburō became the new director on August 1, 1941. In part of his first days in office, he made a "master plan" for dealing with the animals in the zoo. His final product categorized the animals into four "danger levels." The primary method for killing the animals was to be poison, either potassium cyanide or strychnine nitrate. In extreme emergencies, two Winchester rifles were kept on zoo grounds and zoo officials were trained to use them. The first group (most dangerous) included bears, the big cats, coyotes, striped hyenas, wolves, hippopotami, American bison, elephants, monkeys (mainly Hamadryas baboons), and poisonous snakes. In category two (“less dangerous animals”) could be found raccoons, badgers, foxes, giraffes, more monkeys, kangaroos, crocodiles, deer, eagles, and emus. Category three included water buffaloes, goats, turkeys, pigs, and the like, while category four had songbirds and turtles. Stage one was to deal with animals from categories one and two while Stage two was planned to deal with the animals from category three.
On August 16, 1943, Fukuda was called into the office of his boss, Inoshita Kiyoshi, the section chief for Tokyo’s public parks. There he
also met Koga who had returned to teach at the Army Veterinary School in Tokyo after a tour-of-duty in South-East Asia. Fukuda noted in his diary: “... the section chief told us, on the basis of an order by the governor, to kill the elephants and wild beasts [mōjū] by shooting. (Killing by poison)”.
The following list is how the animals were actually dealt with throughout 1943:
August 17: a North Manchurian brown bear and an Asian black bear (Japanese)
were poisoned (the poison, strychnine nitrate, was provided by
the Army Veterinary School and was mixed into the food);
August 18: a lion, a leopard, and an Asian black bear (Korean) were poisoned;
August 19: a North Manchurian brown bear was given poison, then the coup
de grâce was delivered with a lance;
August 21: an Asian black bear (Korean) was given poison, then
stabbed; another Asian black bear (Japanese) had not been fed for three days already and was strangled with a rope while sleeping;
August 22: two lions were poisoned, the tiger and the cheetah were killed
August 24: a polar bear died, presumably of starvation;
August 26: a black leopard and a
leopard were poisoned; the head of the rattlesnake was pierced
with wire, then a heated wire was tied around the neck and pulled, but the snake did not die until the next morning, after 16 hours, when a
thin cord was used around the neck;
August 27: the head of the python, who had been fed two rabbits not
even a week ago, was cut off and she died
after a while; the sun bear was poisoned; a black leopard and
a leopard were strangled with wire rope;
August 29: a polar bear, who had not yet died of starvation, was strangled with a
wire; an American bison was roped and killed by blows to the head
from a pickaxe and a hammer;
September 1: the second American bison was killed in the same way as the first;
September 11: a leopard cub, who had only been born in March, was poisoned.
In total, 24 animals (plus three elephants) were killed. After necropsies at
the Army Veterinary School, the carcasses were stuffed or skinned, the bones to be interred at the zoo’s monument for dead animals. A few were buried immediately.
As per the elephants, Potassium Nitrate was tried, but the elephants were too intelligent, and threw the poisoned food back. In the end, no method of poison worked. The mayor would not allow for the elephants to be shot so as not to cause an scene for the public. In the end, the elephants met their end by starvation. One elephant, John, is pictured below once he collapsed.
On September 4th 1943, a memorial service was held for the slaughtered animals (pictured at top). In fact, two of the three elephants that died were still starving in a building in the background.
After the mass slaughters, many of the surviving animals were killed for food, or starved. Even pigeons were killed. Also, in 1945 around 35 larger birds along with two muntjac were "disposed of." One of the only "larger" animals to survive the 1943 animal genocide was the hippopotamus. The Ueno zoo had 3 hippos. An adult pair and a young male born in 1937. All three were dead by mid April, 1945.
In 1975, a memorial was erected (pictured below) at the Ueno Zoo to remember all of the animals that were needlessly killed.
After the mass slaughters, many of the surviving animals were killed for food, or starved. Even pigeons were killed. Also, in 1945 around 35 larger birds along with two muntjac were "disposed of." One of the only "larger" animals to survive the 1943 animal genocide was the hippopotamus. The Ueno zoo had 3 hippos. An adult pair and a young male born in 1937. All three were dead by mid April, 1945.
In 1975, a memorial was erected (pictured below) at the Ueno Zoo to remember all of the animals that were needlessly killed.