Japan zoo takes on cockroach PR role

With a whopping -- and disgusting -- 4,000 species around the planet, the hardy cockroach can survive almost anywhere. - AFP / Raul Arboleda

TOKYO, July 22, 2015 (AFP) - A Japanese zoo is trying to do the impossible -- improve the image of cockroaches, putting on an exhibition of one of the world’s most hated insects.

With a whopping -- and disgusting -- 4,000 species around the planet, the hardy creature can survive almost anywhere, but is most commonly encountered by city-dwellers in grubby corners of the kitchen, or roaming around the floor at night.