Lions, Tigers, No Bears...But They Do Have Gharials
Revised 4/2021
Dear Polite Traveler,
With so many activities to choose from while visiting
Honolulu, deciding on a trip to the zoo might not make a lot of sense. After all, most home cities have zoos, so why
waste precious vacation time on visiting one in Honolulu? Because it’s this one.
Note:
Follow CDC guidelines when visiting.
Always wear your face mask when in public.
What makes it so darn
special?
This may not be the largest zoo in the U.S. with its 42
acres, but it is home to 995 different animals from the tropics. Making this zoo quite cool. Also cool, is that this is our only royal zoo. Okay, not quite royal, but the land once
was. King David Kalakaua, Monarch of
Hawaii granted the people these lands in 1876.
Point of fact, he actually granted an entire 300 acres that became the
zoo and Kapiolani Regional Park. For those of you who have visited Oahu, more
specifically the Honolulu area, you are, most likely, familiar with this
massive park breathtakingly overshadowed by Diamond Head.
The grounds are lovely and separated into three tropical
ecological zones: African Savanna, Asian and Pacific Islands/American Tropical
Forests. So, as you stroll through the
zoo, the landscape foreshadows the types of animals you’ll see.
In fact, this is the Honolulu Zoo Mission Statement directly
from their brochure/handout.
“The mission of the Honolulu Zoo is to inspire stewardship of our
living world by providing meaningful experiences to our guests. The Zoo
emphasizes Pacific tropical island ecosystems and our traditional values of
malama (caring) and ho`okipa (hospitality).”
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What type of animals
live here?
One can find the typical zoo animal here, like elephants,
giraffes, lions, and primates. But there are also a variety of reptiles and amphibians that might be new to many of
us. The tiny Poison Dart Frogs eats
poisonous ants to help keep them poisonous to their enemies. Their lipophilic
alkaloid
toxins are so poisonous it can kill many men, which is why some used the poison
for their darts. Interesting, huh.
Of course, there are many other “pretty” and less dangerous
animals here as well, such as sloths, ring-tailed lemur and American flamingo. All are amazing, though, and not to be
missed.
To get an idea of what you might see there, check out their
website before your trip to Oahu. The
zoo website hosts amazing pictures and descriptions of each animal living in
their care. Luckily for us, we happened
upon experts who spent an extended period of time educating us on Amphibians
and various Reptiles.
One such expert was Conner. Just
a teen in high school, he educated us in the three different types of
poisons/venoms found in amphibians and reptiles. Extremely interesting! I probably learned more in an hour than in
most university classes.
Not
just a zoo, but a classroom as well.
Besides teaching material for
teachers, the Honolulu Zoo provides Zoo Camps, Twilight Tours, Field Trips and
Zoo to You.
Please read more about these
wonderful programs: http://honoluluzoo.org/programs/
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