Kushiro-shitsugen National Park, National park in eastern Hokkaido, Japan
Kushiro Shitsugen National Park is a large wetland in eastern Hokkaido, Japan, designated as a national park, wildlife refuge, Ramsar site, and natural monument. The Kushiro River runs through it, fed from Lake Kussharo, and the land is covered with dense reed beds and sedge meadows that spread across low-lying ground.
The wetland formed thousands of years ago as the seabed filled with peat and the water gradually withdrew, leaving behind a broad marsh. It was designated a national park in 1987 to protect it from development and drainage.
Access to the wetland is strictly limited because the core area is a national natural monument. Visitors use the Hosooka Observatory and wooden boardwalks at the edges, and the Norokko-go tourist train runs along the Kushiro River through the park.
The Siberian salamander, found in the park, is the only amphibian in Japan that can survive extreme cold down to minus 45 degrees Celsius. This animal lives nowhere else in Japan outside of the Kushiro Shitsugen wetlands.
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