The Honolulu Zoo is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

in Queen Kapiʻolani Park in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. It is the only zoo in the United States to be established by grants made by a sovereign monarch and is built on part of the royal Queen Kapiʻolani Park. The Honolulu Zoo features over 1,230 animals in specially designed habitats. Over 601,510 people visit the zoo annually. The zoo is administered by the City & County of Honolulu through the Department of Enterprise Services. Its support agency, the Honolulu Zoo Society (HZS), provides program services for the zoo. The zoo's accredited membership of the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in ...

(AZA) was dropped in 2016 but reinstated in 2020.''Honolulu Zoo wins back accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums''
staradvertiser.com, April 8, 2020, retrieved July 17, 2021

Queen Kapi‘olani Park

In 1876, King Kalākaua made royal lands near the slopes of Lē‘ahi available for the establishment of a grand public park for the people of his

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

. Two hundred subscribers to the king's project formed the Kapiʻolani Park Association for the purpose of pursuing the mission. In 1877, the marshes, ponds and lagoons in the area were beautified, and it was opened as Queen Kapiʻolani Park in honor of Queen Kapiʻolani, wife of Kalākaua. Even as a public park, King Kalākaua continued using the park as a place for his personal collection of exotic birds and horses. The park brought more exotic animals as it staged the

Kamehameha Day King Kamehameha I Day on June 11 is a public holiday in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It honors Kamehameha the Great, the monarch who first established the unified Kingdom of Hawaii—comprising the Hawaiian Islands of Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, ...

celebrations and various carnivals and fairs. In 1896, the City & County of Honolulu assumed control of Queen Kapiʻolani Park.

History

In 1914, the City & County of Honolulu appointed Ben Hollinger to be its Administrator of Parks and Recreation, and Queen Kapiʻolani Park came under his control. Hollinger maintained a fascination with animals and began collecting them to showcase at the park in Waikīkī. The park became home for a

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

, a

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a species in the family Ursidae (the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'') occurring in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the smallest bear, standing nearly at the shoulder and weighing ...

and several

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

cubs. In 1916, a steamship on its way from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

pulled into port at

Honolulu Harbor Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu , is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, ...

. On board was an African elephant named Daisy. Hollinger pleaded with the City & County of Honolulu to purchase the elephant, which they did. With the acquisition of the elephant, from live animal trader Ellis S. Joseph, Honolulu officially had a zoo. Daisy entertained visitors at the park until 1933, when Daisy was killed by

Honolulu Police Department The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP. Officially recognized as a part of the government of the ...

officers after she trampled her trainer, George Conradt, to death. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the Honolulu Zoo was almost shut down for lack of finances. Even through the difficulty, it expanded its collection on November 29, 1949, with the purchase of an elephant, a

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dro ...

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s, several

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

species,

spider monkey Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The ...

s and a

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

. The Honolulu Zoo continued to operate in disrepair. Elephant Honolulu Zoo 1958

In 1974, the Honolulu Zoo accepted a donation of a

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

, an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

s and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

. These donations renewed Honolulu's enthusiasm to revive their zoo. The City & County of Honolulu approved a master plan that determined the boundaries of the present site at the north end of Queen Kapiʻolani Park. The animal collection, increased by purchase, trade and donations, was housed in newly constructed facilities, some of which still provide foundations for newer exhibits. The facility designs were influenced by the exhibits of the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The Honolulu Zoo experienced another revival of enthusiasm in the 1990s as the exhibits were redesigned to feature more natural settings for the animals on display.

Gallery

File:Honolulu Zoo Primate 1997.jpg, Gibbon 1997 File:Elephant Honolulu Zoo.jpg, Asian Elephant 1997 File:Honolulu Zoo Rino January 1997.jpg, Southern White Rhino 1997 File:1997 Honolulu Zoo January.jpg, Nyala antelope 1997 File:1997 Honolulu Zoo.jpg, Nyala females 1997 File:Honolulu Zoo tortoise 1997.jpg, Giant tortoise 1997

Art

Art at the Honolulu Zoo includes: * ''Giraffe'', a 1959 metal sculpture by Charles W. Watson * ''Ostrich'', a 1960 metal sculpture by Charles W. Watson no longer exists. * ''Hawaiian Porpoises'', a 1976 metal, fiberglass, and coral sculpture by

Ken Shutt Ken Shutt (1928-April 2, 2010) was an American sculptor and watercolorist who was born in Long Beach, California. He grew up in Whittier, California, and graduated from Pasadena City College, the Art Center College of Design and the Chouinard ...

* ''Hippopotami'', a 1976 chicken wire, cloth, and Belzona resin sculpture by Jack Throp * ''Elephant's Child'', a 1988 bronze sculpture by Tom Tischler * ''Gecko's Delight'', a 1978 wood relief sculpture by John Nippolt * ''Hawaiian Pigs'', a 1976 stone sculpture by Gregory Clurman * ''Giraffe'', a 1998 fiberglass sculpture by Jim de la Torre * ''Whooping Cranes'', a pair of 1998 metal sculptures by Paul Saviskas * ''Maasai Tribesman'', a 1999 metal sculpture by Paul Saviskas * ''The Evolution of an Island'', a 1991 metal mural by Amanda Opsahl

References

External links

* {{Authority control Education in Honolulu Zoos in Hawaii Tourist attractions in Honolulu Research institutes in Hawaii Biological research institutes Buildings and structures in Honolulu 1916 establishments in Hawaii Zoos established in 1916