[Connected Travelogue #193] Rita, Lloyd, and Tennoji Zoo

Last time, I was able to deepen my koala knowledge in ways I never expected at Tennoji Zoo.

Now, let's continue our tour of the zoo.

Right off the bat, a drill makes an appearance.

Wait... it's not a mandrill, but a drill? Is that an animal that actually exists...?

Drills have a simpler, all-black face color compared to mandrills.

What's more, it seems they are only found at Tennoji Zoo in Japan.

Extremely rare, indeed.

While looking at various monkeys, I walked through a jungle that didn't feel like it was in the middle of the big city of Osaka.

Being able to experience this kind of extraordinary feeling is one of the good things about zoos.

And then...

To my surprise, there was another monkey. (Though it was a bronze statue.) It's wearing clothes, so I wonder if it was a mascot like Pan-kun?

However, somehow, it doesn't have a cheerful atmosphere. It's as if it's
comforting a depressed partner...

Yes, this bronze statue has a sad origin.

Ah, if you don't want to see a painful story, please feel free to skip it...

This bronze statue is modeled after the chimpanzees Rita and Lloyd.

Arriving at the Osaka City Zoo (Tennoji Zoo) in 1932, Rita was very intelligent, learned numerous tricks, and quickly became Tennoji Zoo's superstar chimpanzee, setting a massive record of 2.5 million annual visitors.

Rita was so incredibly popular that she was called "Miss Rita," and she had such an impact that zoos all over Japan began moving to acquire chimpanzees.

Although Rita and Lloyd (her groom) were a pair, when World War II began, they were dressed in military uniforms and forced to wear gas masks, and their popularity was exploited for war propaganda.

As the war situation worsened and food for the animals became scarce, the child she had with Lloyd was stillborn, and the next day, Rita also died.

As for the remaining Lloyd, he was scolded with, "Lloyd? Foreign words must be eliminated!!," and was even forced to change his name to 'Katsuta'.

….

In addition, with the start of air raids on the mainland, the zoo had to consider what would happen if animal cages were destroyed in an air raid, and they were forced to dispose of the animals.

The famous 'Poor Elephants' is a story about Ueno Zoo, but at the time, similar things were happening at zoos all over Japan.

(Setting aside the fact that 'Poor Elephants' contains a significant amount of fiction)

At Tennoji Zoo as well, animals died due to a lack of food and heating fuel, and others were disposed of using poisoned bait.

(Even now, every summer, they hold a special exhibition called 'Zoos During Wartime' and display the taxidermy of the animals that were disposed of during the war)

And because of the experience of having Rita's trained tricks used as a propaganda tool for the war, Tennoji Zoo stopped training animals to perform tricks entirely.

…I never expected a bronze statue to lead to such a heavy story.

I tend to encounter various war-related things in this travelogue, but whether it's the requisition of metal or the disposal of animals, it really reaffirmed for me that they were in an extreme state.

And in fact, in the Ukraine War currently taking place, many zoos are in difficult operational situations, and there is information that they are being attacked and looted.

Perhaps the only saving grace is that support is being extended from all over the world, and the disposal of animals like in Japan's past is not taking place.

(It seems that armadillo lizards from Ukraine have also taken refuge at the private zoo 'iZoo' in Izu, Shizuoka.)

This article really gave me a lot to think about.

However, I must continue to absorb knowledge, including things like this.

To be continued...!