Miscellaneous Notes on the Penguins. III
1952 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 33-35
Details
1952 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 33-35
1) Before or during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) no live penguin or its skin was imported into Japan,
2) but sometime towards the end of that era, only about 1911, the first skin was introduced into Japan.
3) In the Taishô Era (1912-1926) many live penguins were introduced, while one brought over to the Ueno Zoological Garden in Tokyo in June 1915 was presumably the first live example in this country.
4) In the Shôwa Era (1926-) penguins became common among zoological gardens and some bred from time to time.
5) By the end of the Pacific War the live stock of penguins became extirpated throughout Japan, but were re-introduced since. Those reached after the war were brought over by some whaling vessels from the Antarctic.
6) Up to the present at least six species of live penguins: Pygoscelis adeliae, P. antarctica, Eudyptes pachyrhynchus, Spheniscus demersus, S. humboldti and S. magellanus,
7) and at least ten species in skin specimens reached Japan.
