The Sydney Nagoya Sister City Committee (SNSCC), which CLAIR Deputy Director Yoshimi is a member of, attended a eucalyptus tree planting ceremony held at Taronga Zoo on 5 May.
This ceremony was held in memory of former director at Nagoya’s Higashiyama Zoo, Mr Eisuke Kashima, who passed away last December. Kashima was Higashiyama’s director, as well as one of its veterinarians.
He was involved in and supportive of the sister zoo relationship between Taronga and Higashiyama, a friendship which began nearly 30 years ago, when Taronga gifted Higashiyama its first Koala.
During the planting ceremony, SNSCC chairman David Butcher and Taronga Zoo senior curator Erna Walraven shared words of condolences and anecdotes of Kashima with the attendees, made up of SNSC Committee members, Zoo staff who had known Kashima for many years, as well as staff that participated in the Sister Zoo staff exchange programme.
This year marks the 35th year anniversary of the Sydney and Nagoya Sister City relationship.
This kind of mutual exchange, which takes part in a variety of fields, contribute greatly to strengthening ties between the two cities.
Committee Chair David Butcher(centre)
and
Senior Curator, Taronga Erna Walraven(right)