Aloha!
Welcome to the
Zoo Society
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Officers:
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| Kids visiting the Children's Zoo. |
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Zoo Mission Statement
The mission of the Honolulu Zoo is to inspire the stewardship of our living world by providing meaningful experiences to our guests. The Zoo emphasizes Pacific Tropical ecosystems and our traditional values of malama (caring) and ho’okipa (hospitality).
Society Mission and Purpose
The Honolulu Zoological Society’s mission is to foster an appreciation of our living world by supporting and advocating environmental education, recreation, biological study and conservation activities at the Honolulu Zoo.
The Honolulu Zoological Society is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization whose purpose is to support the Honolulu Zoo and its mission, to educate the public about the importance of wildlife and conservation issues, and to provide for the needed capital improvements to the Zoo through fundraising efforts.
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Kruger, our 6000 pound white rhino is a favorite with kids. |
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Who Are We?
Founded in 1969 as the Zoo Hui, the Honolulu Zoological Society of today is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and employs a staff of ten. Membership consists of more than 8,000 people representing families and individuals from across the State of Hawaii and the continental U.S.
Annual membership dues in the Zoo Society support the Society’s many education and zoo support programs and functions. We consider it an honor to serve the mission of the Honolulu Zoo and are deeply appreciative of our community’s support.
What We Do:
Membership:
Zoo Society membership increased to 8,358 households. With an average of
2.5 people per household this translates to 21,000 or more individuals
taking advantage of the benefits of membership. Membership revenue increased
to $257,000, a 5% increase over last year.
Nene Grandparent Day was held on October 13, 2007 with
about 125 grandparents and their grandchildren attending. Crafts for the
children, light refreshments and an animal encounter at the Keiki Zoo or
Elephant exhibit were offered to participants in this annual members event.
Our annual Tropical Zoolites, another benefit for Zoo Society members, was held on December 2, 2007 for over 1000 guests. As in the past, a light sprinkle greeted us as the gates opened for the event, but it did not dampen spirits. Entertainment, crafts, games, animal biofacts, refreshments and a visit from Santa were enjoyed by all.
We had several adoptive parents join the Zoo Society Family. We would like to welcome our new zoo parents at the Director (3), Curators (1), Specialist (17) and Keeper (29) levels. We also featured several special adoptions in the ZooView magazine. Flamingos, giraffes and frogs were popular with our members in 2007-2008.
Education:
The Zoo Society operates an extensive Education Programs Department that
is responsible for school group reservations and tours plus many fun family
programs like Twilight Tours, Vacation Adventures and Snooze in the Zoo. For more information, click the Programs
or Calendar links here or at the top of each
page.
This year we held 599 programs with 30,040 participants and brought in
$282,806.75. Many thanks to the education team for their outstanding
efforts!
The new classroom construction is well under way. In case you haven’t seen it, it is located next to the Keiki Zoo. We hope to be able to run our Vacation Adventures program out of this space during the winter break 2008-2009. Once we are in the new classroom, the current room in the barn will eventually be remodeled into a reptile and small animal space.
This year we will be launching a new program called Dinner Safari. This is for people who want to experience the evening portion of Snooze in the Zoo without sleeping over. The program will begin at 6:00 pm and includes tours before and after a dinner buffet and camp fire time where we roast marshmallows and make s’mores. The program ends at 10:00 pm. This program will launch on April 17th, 2009.
We held four special educational events this year for the general public: Party for the Planet for Earth Day, Leap Frog Day, Migratory Bird Day and Keiki Day. In 2009 we will be hosting an Invasive Species/Pet Amnesty Day funded by a grant from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
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| One of our animal keepers leads volunteers on a guided tour of the Savanna. |
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Volunteer Program:
The Zoo Society sponsors and manages the Zoo’s Volunteer Program that
consists of over 100 individual volunteers who work in virtually every
department of zoo operations. In 2007-2008 Zoo Society Volunteers
donated over 22,000 service hours towards the Zoo’s mission of inspiring
environmental stewardship and providing meaningful experiences for our
guests. Individuals and community service groups provided essential
services in many areas of the zoo, including volunteering in the vet
clinic or as an animal keeper assistant, manning special events and
educational displays, landscaping and carrying out various other zoo
improvement projects. Read
more.
Special Projects:
Providing funds for special projects like new animal acquisitions, exhibit improvements, staff training, animal enrichment, research and conservation is one of several ways the Zoo Society contributes to the Honolulu Zoo.
Zoo Advocate:
As public advocates for the Zoo, the Zoo Society works with the City & County of Honolulu administration and the City Council to initiate improvements and carry out the Master Plan. The results of these joint efforts are evidenced by the City’s allocation of many million of dollars in new construction projects.
Research and Publications:
Research scientist for the Honolulu Zoo Society, Kathy Carlstead, conducts
animal behavior research in collaboration with other institutions, agencies
and organizations. This year, with Peter Luscomb HZ General Curator and UC
Davis veterinarian Dr. Greg Massey they completed a study to determine the
least stressful caging methods for transferring wild caught Hawaiian
Honeycreepers for release in new areas of the Big Island. She also began
studying the effect of Keeper-Animal Relationships on zoo animal welfare,
and completed a study that monitored the stress responses of False Killer
whales to arranged encounters with humans in an aquarium setting.
For the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) she is on the Animal Welfare Committee and the Behavior Advisory Group where they have been working on a video on ‘How to do Zoo Animal Behavior Research.’ The DVD will be distributed in 2009. Graphics projects completed this year include designing and writing the three graphics panels currently displayed at the Tiger exhibit and the back of the new zoo map, as well as writing a new rack card for the Zoo. With Zoo staff Mary Harbold and Tommy Higashino, they began development of a new interpretive master plan for the Zoo.
Conference Support:
The Zoo Society also helps to support conferences on animal research. The
Society was one of the sponsors for the 3rd International Symposium on
Vertebrate Sex Determination in 2003, again in 2006 and also in 2009.
The website for the 5th International Symposium on Vertebrate Sex
Determination, April 20-24, 2009 is
http://www.vertebrate-biosex.com/.
Development Campaign
Funding:
The Zoo Society is funded by membership and adoption sales, contributions, grants and fees charged for participation in education programs. The Society does not receive sustaining or operating funds from the City and County of Honolulu, the State of Hawaii or the Federal government.
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| Keiki Zoo Groundbreaking |
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Capital
Campaign:
The Zoo Society Capital Campaign set a goal of raising several million dollars to build new exhibits in the Zoo. With the support of matching funds from the City & County of Honolulu, we raised almost eleven million dollars to use on improvements over the years. This money was used to build a new veterinarian clinic and the new Keiki Zoo.
The new Keiki Zoo was dedicated in 2006, see photos. The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation donated one million dollars to the project. The renovations are part of the Zoo's master plan and are aimed at making the Zoo more educational and interactive.
Zoofari Gala:
The Zoo Society also raised money through donors and annual fundraising gala events to build the new orangutan exhibit in February 2006 for Rusti and Violet and the new addition to the Sumatran tiger exhibit in November 2007. The tiger addition was built to accommodate our new tiger family that was born in September 2008.
ZOOFARI 2010: This year, our annual “Zoofari” gala event is scheduled for October 2, 2010. Experience an amazing African-themed party village created by Jon Staub, a first-ever live mosaic mural by artist Leah Rigg, and the unveiling of a piece of beloved Zoo history by artist, Kelly Sueda. To be a part of this fantastic evening benefit that will support children’s programs, animal welfare, and exciting physical improvements to the Honolulu Zoo, please click here.
Planned Giving:
The Zoo Society has also launched a Planned Giving program to establish an
endowment fund for the zoo.
Fundraising Campaigns:
The "An Evening with Rusti and Friends"
fundraising campaign in October 2005 raised over one
hundred thousand dollars that was used to help build the
new enclosure for
Rusti and Violet.
The "Tiger Moon” fundraising campaign was in October 2006. With the help of many volunteers, community and Society support we raised over two hundred thousand dollars that was used to build the new tiger enclosure.
Major Gifts:
A major gift is transformative and can touch every corner of the Honolulu Zoo. Donors can make a huge difference – for an animal, exhibit, zoo keeper, botanical section or a program – and demonstrate support that will be lasting in perpetuity. Gifts may be targeted to specific areas of support or can be designated as unrestricted for the Honolulu Zoological Society to use for its greatest need. There are many ways to give, including some that also result in great financial benefits for donors and their families.
If you are interested in making a gift, please contact:
Dyanna Okazaki
Director of Development
Honolulu Zoological Society
151 Kapahulu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 397-1239
