It’s been all around the web for the past two or three days: a Japanese giant salamander was found on the banks of a Kyoto river.
If you’ve missed those pictures, here they are.
The Japanese giant salamander (andrias japonicus in Latin, ōsanshōuo in Japanese) lives in Western Japan and can reach a length of two meters, even though one meter is a more common size. It lives almost exclusively in the water and is completely inoffensive. While, it is not endangered, it is threatened nonetheless, mostly because its natural habitat (Japanese rivers) is being covered with concrete more and more.
While, it’s quite exceptional to run into one in the streets of Kyoto, like the one that’s making the news now, they’re not that rare in the prefecture’s countryside.
However, if you want to see some up, close and personal, your best chance is at Kyoto Aquarium (it actually is the aquarium’s mascot):
They also make very cute pets (sort of):
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Haha, yeah, I noticed this story going around. I would have loved to see one of these things while I was over there.
While I knew about the Chinese kind, I actually had never heard that there were a Japanese subspecies until I visited the Kyoto Aquarium.
I became an instant fan.
I hope I see one in the wild one of those days (although the amount of time I spend in the wild in Japan is sadly almost non-existent).
I was in Kyoto last month (December 2023) and had wanted to see this giant salamander at the Kyoto Aquarium. None of my travel buddies were keen on that though and it was mooted out :(.
Oh, that’s sad. You should have ditched them, and go see them anyway. 🙁