Tokiwa Park (常盤公園, Tokiwa Kōen) is a park located in Ube City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

Tokiwa Park
常盤公園
Map
Created1925
Websitewww.tokiwapark.jp

There are great white pelicans living in an enclosure at the park. "Katta-kun", a pelican named because his parents came from Kolkata in India, was born there in 1985 and became a mascot for the park after visiting schools nearby by himself. An anime film titled Katta-kun Monogatari was made about him in 1995. Katta-kun died in 2008.[1][2]

Australian black swans that had originally been donated by Ube's sister city of Newcastle in Australia lived in the lake until 2011. In either 1978[3] or 1983[4] some of these were donated to Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture where some continue to reside in Lake Senba.

There was an outbreak of H1N5 avian influenza there in February 2011, leading to a cull of local birds. All mute swans and black swans at the lake were killed, along with some ducks.[2][5] The great white pelicans at the park were not culled.

A pair of mute swans was introduced to the park in May 2017, and started breeding the same year.[6][7]

References

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  1. ^ "Tokiwa Park". GaijinPot. 16 March 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "山口県、ハクチョウなど399羽殺処分へ 鳥インフル". Asahi Shimbun. February 9, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  3. ^ Sawa, Takamitsu (February 21, 2011). "Swan dive into the strait dividing economic views". Japan Times. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  4. ^ "偽卵でコブハクチョウ、コクチョウ繁殖抑制 水戸市の千波湖". Sankei Shimbun. May 11, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  5. ^ "平成22年度における高病原性鳥インフルエンザの確認状況" (PDF). maff.go.jp. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  6. ^ "5月11日 復活!!". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  7. ^ "ときわ動物園で飼育しているコブハクチョウが国立京都国際会館へ移動します". city.ube.yamaguchi.jp. July 30, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2019.