[Kyoto Prefecture] “Kyoto Aquarium” ① ~There are more giant salamanders than we thought~

This time we will introduce “Kyoto Aquarium” which opened in Kyoto City in 2012.
It’s very close to Kyoto Station, so you can walk there (about 15 minutes on foot).
It is the first aquarium in Japan to use completely artificial seawater, and is one of the largest inland aquariums in Japan.
We think it’s amazing that such a facility was built in the middle of the city of Kyoto…

The purpose of our visit was to see giant salamanders, the main attraction of this aquarium.
It is a very fulfilling facility and we have a lot to write about, so I would like to divide it into several articles.
This time, I would like to introduce the corner of giant salamanders that I wanted to see the most.

Exterior of Kyoto Aquarium

Immediately after entering the museum, giant salamanders corner

The photo above is the exterior of Kyoto Aquarium.
We will buy a ticket at the ticket vending machine to enter the museum, and there is a giant salamander (stuffed toy) above the machine.

A ticket vending machine and a parent and child of giant salamander?

The admission fee is 2,200 yen for adults.
An annual passport is 4,400 yen.
If we enter the museum twice, the price will be the same as the normal price, so we strongly recommend the annual passport to those who live nearby.
As I will introduce from now on, the museum is very fulfilling, we can easily go twice a year.
If I had known about the annual passport earlier, I would have purchased it…

And the first corner will feature giant salamanders.
The top photo is the exhibition area.
It seems that the river in Kyoto is reproduced.
And here are giant salamanders.
There were more giant salamanders than we expected.

A group of giant salamanders appeared

The giant salamanders in the photo above seems to be a hybrid between Japanese giant salamanders and Chinese giant salamanders.

Hybrid problem of giant salamanders in Kamogawa Rever

Around 1970, Chinese giant salamanders (of course, an alien species) was imported for food.

It is said that this Chinese giant salamander escaped or was abandoned and flowed into the Kamogawa River, where it crossed with giant salamanders that originally existed in Japan.

At Kyoto Aquarium, they are breeding captured hybrid giant salamanders so that the number of hybrids does not increase any further.

By the way, wild Chinese giant salamanders in China has become an endangered species, and their endangered level is higher than that of the native Japanese giant salamanders.
The Chinese giant salamander is used in China for food, cosmetics and leather.
They are being bred, but their numbers are declining because some people poach them from the wild and environmental pollution makes it impossible for them to grow.

Hybrids are a big problem in Japan, but giant salamanders are struggling everywhere…

On the other hand, of course, there are a giant salamander native to Japan.

Japanese giant salamander (special room)

Explanation of the ecology of giant salamanders

In the giant salamander corner, various explanations about their ecology are displayed.
For example, this.
The giant salamander swallows its prey whole in 0.05 seconds.

Guwa!!

Their mouths open like this.

Say Ahh

You can learn a lot about giant salamanders, so please take the time to read it.
Finally, we will put a giant salamander flying Wi-Fi and finish the blog this time.

The giant salamander can also fly Wi-Fi

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