Japanese Ambassador Welcomes National Zoo’s Japanese Giant Salamanders to Their New Home

July 22, 2010
News Release

For more fun facts about Japanese giant salamanders, read the National Zoo’s Oosanshouo comic. To download these photos and to see additional photos, visit the National Zoo’s Flickr page.
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  • Photo: Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo
    Japanese Salamanders, Ambassador and Student

    Students from Virginia’s Great Falls Elementary School presented their salamander-inspired art to (from left) Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Science, Eva Pell, and the Zoo’s director, Dennis Kelly.

  • Photo: Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo
    Japanese Salamanders and Ambassador

    Rick Quintero (left), the primary Japanese giant salamander keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, feeds the Zoo’s new juvenile salamanders for Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki

  • Photo: Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo
    Japanese Giant Salamander

    Japanese giant salamanders, Andrias japonicus, can grow up to 5 feet long and weigh up to 55 pounds.