Nasu Safari Park guide to animals, access and incidents

Nasu Safari Park (なすサファリパーク) sits in Nasu Town, Nasu District in Tochigi Prefecture. Opened in 1980, the park keeps and exhibits roughly 700 animals, from carnivores such as white lions and Bengal tigers to large herbivores including hippos and zebras. The complex is linked with several sister facilities in other prefectures and is a prominent attraction within the Nasu area.

Seasons and special programs

The park operates a Night Safari programme and stages timed events: for example, in 2022 the Bengal tiger known as Bolta was the centrepiece of the park’s Year-of-the-Tiger commemorative activities and drew particular visitor attention. Bolta ranked first in the nationwide “Oshi Tora Grand Prix” at the time, though the park withdrew his entry following the January 2022 incident. The park has continued to offer special programmes alongside its regular exhibits.

What you will see: animals and notable specimens

Nasu Safari Park exhibits about 700 animals across carnivore and herbivore collections. Representative species listed by the park include:

• White lion
• Bengal tiger
• Hippopotamus
• White rhinoceros
• African elephant
• Bison
• Chapman zebra
• Llama
• Yak
• Asian water buffalo
• Reticulated giraffe
• Zebroid
• Eland
• Mouflon
• Capybara
• Ostrich

A notable individual in recent years was the Bengal tiger Bolta: an 11-year-old male with the rare “golden tabby” color, a pattern said in the source to be present in only about 30 animals worldwide. Bolta was born in 2011 at Tohoku Safari Park and moved to Nasu in 2018. After being a focus of 2022 promotions, he was involved in a serious keeper attack on 5 January 2022; the park continued to exhibit him afterward, and he died of acute heart failure on 8 June 2022.

Access and parking

By public transport: from JR East Kuroiso Station take a Kanto Bus bound for the Nasu Ropeway / Nasu Yumoto direction and alight at the “Nasu Safari Park Entrance” stop; the bus trip takes about 17 minutes according to the park information.

By car: the park reports a parking capacity of approximately 350 vehicles and states that parking is free. Driving times cited by the park are about 15 minutes from the Tohoku Expressway Nasu Interchange and about 25 minutes from the Kuroiso-Itamuro Interchange.

Nearby attractions and onsen

Nasu Safari Park sits among a cluster of visitor sites and hot-spring areas. Nearby attractions named by the park include:

• Nikkō National Park — Nasu Heisei no Mori
• Nasu Ropeway (Mount Chausu)
• Okashi no Shiro Nasu Heartland
• Nasu Highland Park
• Nasu Animal Kingdom
• Minamigaoka Farm (Nasu Kogen)
• Nasu Trick Art Pia
• Mount Jeans Nasu
• Nasu Teddy Bear Museum
• Nasu Stained Glass Museum
• Rindoko Family Farm (Nasu Kogen Rindoko Family Ranch)

Nearby onsen areas cited by the park include the Nasu Onsenkyo, Shiobara Onsenkyo and Itamuro Onsen.

Safety record and past incidents

The park’s history includes several serious keeper bite incidents that have drawn regulatory and media attention.

• 13 November 1997: During feeding, a keeper and two female trainees were attacked by a female lion while preparing food; victims sustained a mixture of serious and lesser injuries. The attack occurred after staff began preparations without closing a door separating sections of the den. Following the incident, the park established a detailed manual for staff who handle feeding of carnivores. Authorities sent the person in charge at the time to the prosecutor’s office on suspicion of violating industrial safety regulations. The prefecture had been urging the park to join the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) and to improve common manuals and coordination; the park had resisted some of those proposals.

• 25 December 2000 (about 11:15 am): A 21-year-old male keeper cleaning inside a lion den was attacked by a 14-year-old female lion and suffered bites to the head and chest, at one point becoming critically ill and unconscious. The incident highlighted shortcomings in the enforcement of the safety manual that had been drafted after the 1997 attack. The labour standards office later sent the responsible person to prosecutors.

• 5 January 2022 (morning): A Bengal tiger named Bolta attacked three keepers (one man and two women, all in their 20s) and inflicted severe injuries; emergency calls were placed at around 8:30 am. According to major media reporting referenced by the park record, the first keeper to encounter Bolta was a female carnivore keeper; others who attempted a rescue were also attacked. A veterinarian on site used an anesthetic dart to subdue the tiger before rescuing the staff; one keeper was flown by doctor helicopter, the others by ambulance. One woman subsequently lost the right hand at the wrist; other keepers suffered skull fractures and other serious injuries. The incident prompted a temporary closure of the park.

Authorities conducted investigations: on 7 January police searched the park and seized safety-management documents; on 10 January the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums performed an on-site review and reported that hurried end-of-day duties and non-standard overtime on the previous day were likely factors contributing to human error. The park reopened on 28 January 2022. Subsequent criminal and administrative actions followed: on 2 May 2023 police forwarded documents to prosecutors alleging negligent injury against the park’s manager, the head of animal care, and four keepers (including two of the injured staff); on 11 May 2023 the Otawara Labour Standards Office forwarded documents alleging violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Law against the operating company named in the park record and the park manager.

On 26 March 2024 the Otawara District Prosecutor’s Office issued summary indictments: a keeper who left Bolta in the transfer corridor was indicted for negligent injury, and the operating company and the park manager were indicted for violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Law. On 8 April 2024 the summary court issued fines: 500,000 yen against the former keeper, 500,000 yen against the operating company, and 300,000 yen against the manager.

The park’s corporate group is linked to other facilities with their own histories: Tohoku Safari Park — which is cited as the same corporation’s head facility — experienced a serious tiger attack in 1989 in which a 19-year-old keeper lost part of an arm.

Reportage after the 2022 attack noted that the injured keepers were young and relatively early in their careers; the park record relays media reporting that the three injured in 2022 were in their early to mid-20s with only a few years of experience. Commentators cited in the record observed that reliance on young staff for critical tasks may have been a factor in repeated incidents across the corporate group.

Operator and sister parks

The park opened in 1980 and is listed alongside sister facilities such as Tohoku Safari Park (Fukushima Prefecture), Iwate Safari Park (Iwate Prefecture) and Nasu World Monkey Park. The operating company referenced in official records is named Tohoku Safari Park and is part of the same corporate group that runs sister sites.

FAQ

Where is Nasu Safari Park located?

Nasu Town, Nasu District, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.

When did the park open?

The park opened in 1980.

How many animals does the park keep and exhibit?

The park keeps and exhibits about 700 animals.

How do I reach the park by public transport?

From JR East Kuroiso Station take a Kanto Bus bound for Nasu Ropeway / Nasu Yumoto and get off at the "Nasu Safari Park Entrance" (journey about 17 minutes).