Municipal authorities say zoo has operated for nearly 20 years without proper permit. A Japanese zoo is fighting back after authorities in Hokkaido prefecture issued a closure order for the facility exhibiting around 150 animal species. The zoo, located in a mountainous area 20km southwest of central Sapporo, is called the "most dangerous zoo" in the country as it permits visitors to enter the cages with tigers and feed them.
The Sapporo municipal government wants the zoo operator, Success-Kanko Corp, to remove buildings allegedly constructed without permission in an area where development of structures for residential or commercial purposes is restricted under planning law. The building disposition order covers all structures of the North Safari Sapporo zoo and allows authorities to remove buildings not conforming to municipal urban development plans, The Japan News reported. Any violation of the order will attract a fine of up to 500,000 yen (£2,645) or one year in prison.
Success-Kanko Corp has been running the zoo for nearly 20 years and expanding infrastructure, reaching up to 150 buildings, allegedly without a proper permit and in violation of written orders. In fact, even before the zoo opened to the public two decades ago, the municipal government had accused the operator of starting construction without a clearance. In response to the latest order, the zoo said in a statement on its website that it will start removing "what can be removed from the middle of this month, with the intention of bringing the facility into compliance with relevant laws and regulations". The animals will be relocated to a temporary facility, most likely the one on a piece of land adjacent to the zoo, it added.
The zoo apologised for ending up with the wrong licence for glamping due to a "lack of knowledge and misinterpretation". "We will continue to thoroughly examine any other matters that need to be addressed appropriately and intend to make all corrections," it said. The zoo is also accused of putting up signs along a national highway in violation of traffic laws. The Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said the operator was repeatedly told to remove the signs, but it refused to comply, citing reasons such as “the signs are necessary because the directions to the zoo are difficult to understand".
Last week, however, the zoo said four of the five signs have been removed and the remaining sign "will be removed by mid-February". The zoo previously faced criticism in late 2024 over its arrangements to interact with animals that could have caused them distress such as overnight stays in a room with an observation window into a seal enclosure. In all, the municipal government has received more than 500 complaints about the zoo, The Japan News reported.
