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Amami Guntō NP, Kagoshima
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
About 30 mongooses were released on Amami in 1979 to tackle habu. By 2000, their population was estimated at 10,000—and the introduced hunters had begun preying on rare native wildlife instead.
Amami’s mongoose eradication covered 71,200 hectares—far beyond the previous 115-hectare island record for removing a long-established population. The last one was caught in 2018; Japan declared the island mongoose-free in 2024 after years of monitoring.
In June 2026, Japan completed its first national protection-and-recovery programs for 2 birds: the Amami woodcock and Amami thrush. Their targets had been met; the work now shifts to monitoring, not goodbye.
Rather than trying to spot every elusive Amami rabbit, researchers count its droppings. Each winter, the Center’s surveyors walk streamside routes, tallying pellets one by one where rabbits tend to leave them in the open.
The Center investigates earthworms and soil because worms are important food for young Amami thrushes. At 11 nests, researchers recorded 581 feeding visits to learn what parents carried to their chicks.
The Amami woodcock was long thought to be nocturnal, but observations have found it foraging in daylight too. The Center studies this elusive island bird through field surveys and research into its behavior.
The Center’s audio guide features the calls of 9 native frogs alongside an invasive frog, helping people learn to recognize an unwelcome newcomer. The white-lipped tree frog was found on Yoron in 2013 and on Tokunoshima in 2023.
At the entrance, visitors hear “Imōre!”—an Amami island-language welcome. Inside, the “Ark of Life” takes them through all 8 inhabited Amami islands, pairing each island’s wildlife with people’s lives, to the sound of waves and birds.
The Amami rabbit has its own outreach mascot: “Amakuro,” created to help people connect with its protection. The Center even shares an “Amakuro Song,” credited to “Amakuro’s friends.”
