Some local zoos have begun providing information about their animals via smartphones in an attempt to attract visitors.
Kyoto City Zoo in the city of Kyoto has released a free iPhone application in August containing information and quizzes about its animals. The application provides a map of the zoo as well as the location of nearby animals when an iPhone owner visits the zoo.
The application, developed jointly by the zoo and an institute funded by the Kyoto city government, has been downloaded over a thousand times, according to zoo officials.
Noichi Zoological Park of Kochi Prefecture in Konan has released an application priced 230 yen with a local company, which was released in November.
The application, for iPhones and smartphones using the Android operating system, provides information about the zoo’s animals, offers samples of their ‘‘talk’’ such as ‘‘I’m hungry’’ and allows animal sounds to set for alarms.
‘‘We plan to update the information on the application from time to time so that visitors will be able to enjoy it no matter how many times they visit our zoo,’’ an official of Noichi zoo said.
The zoos, both run by local governments, have seen visitor numbers halved from their peaks.
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