National Parks in Hokkaido Photo Week: Kushiro Wetlands

I recently traveled around Hokkaido, and wish to share the photos I took in the national parks, complete with alt-text descriptions for the visually impaired. Click on the pictures to see them at full size. Enjoy!

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This is the Kushiro Wetlands National Park.

Note: Some of these photos were taken at the Tsuru Nature Park, which technically is not part of the national park, but considering that the tancho tsuru are the symbol of the national park, and the nature park is very close to the national park, I decided to include it here. The Tsuru Nature Park rescues tancho tsuru which can no longer survive in the wild (due to broken wings, broken beaks, etc.), provides them with a home, and helps tancho tsuru have more chicks.

This is a tancho tsuru; there are only about 3000 alive in the world today. They once were common throughout Hokkaido, but due to habitat loss and hunting, they were believed to be extinct until about 10-20 birds were found in the Kushiro wetlands in the 1920s. All of the tancho tsuru in Kushiro – and thus Japan – are descended from that small flock.

Who is hiding behind the big bird?

Tancho Tsuru: Parent and child

This is how tancho tsuru sleep.

This is the tourist train which goes extra slow so you can see the river.

This is the Kushiro river as seen from the train.

A historic building in the village of Toro.

This is Lake Toro. It is a saltwater lake, since it used to be connected to the ocean.

One of the swamps.

One last look at Toro train station.

Continue to the next post: “Shikotsu-Toya National Park”

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