Koichi Murata

Professor Dr. Koichi Murata is a renowned wildlife veterinarian, researcher, and institutional leader, director of Yokohama Zoological Gardens (Zoorasia) in Japan, and chair of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA).

Beginning his career as a zoo veterinarian at the Kobe Municipal Oji Zoo, Murata has spent more than four decades serving the sector in both institutional and academic roles.

In 2011, he was appointed director of Zoorasia, a member of WAZA and SEAZA and one of Japan’s largest and most progressive zoological parks.

Under his leadership, the institution has become a national pioneer in digital animal record-keeping and scientific management.

The early adoption of the global Species360 Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) has set new benchmarks in data-driven nutrition, welfare monitoring, and international conservation breeding programs for endangered species.

Zoorasia welcomed the birth of a proboscis monkey in 2021. This species is classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

In 2022, Murata was named the 17th chair of JAZA. In this role, he leads national initiatives to raise institutional welfare standards, expand peer-reviewed zoo research, and strengthen collaboration between Japanese institutions and international bodies.

Murata is also an advisor to the Preservation and Research Center (PRC) for the City of Yokohama, a researcher and board member for the Okinawa Churashima Foundation, and a member of the Countermeasures Committee for the Invasive Alien Species Act.

He is a member of IUCN/SSC/Conservation Translocation Specialist Group, regional coordinator for East Asia of IUCN/SSC/Wildlife Health Specialist Group, and part of the OIE (WHOA)/Working Group on Wildlife.