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Dogs and cats and turtles, oh my! As it turns out, that was the path, starting in childhood, that led Linda Santos to her post in charge of Honolulu’s lions and tigers and bears.
“I had a menagerie of pets when I was little,” said Santos, now 58. “I was horrible! My poor mom.” Many of them were adopted from the street, injured, though Mom did let her buy that turtle from the pet store.
Santos has been director of the Honolulu Zoo for the past year, a post that sits at the helm of a storm-tossed ship. There’s been a revolving door in the director’s office, troubles with funding stability and, ultimately a loss of accreditation from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA).
All of that trouble spurred changes at the top, meaning a City Charter amendment that passed two years ago, providing a half-percent allotment from the property tax to be dedicated to the zoo.
The institution’s $15.2 million budget now includes $6.3 million from the tax, all of which, Santos said, should help with improvements aimed at clearing the re-accreditation hurdle.
The Honolulu-born Roosevelt High School alumna rose through the ranks in various zoo departments over 32 years. At one point she did pursue an online course from Cornell University to bolster her knowledge of birds, but it was the on-the-job training that served as her textbooks.
Santos learned about diets working in the zoo commissary, which is where the animals’ food is prepared. She became keeper and trainer, a bird specialist from 2008 to 2011, the zoo’s general curator from 2012 to 2015, then assistant zoo director since July 2015.
As a child she had no problem picking up centipedes and presenting them to her horrified mother, and still admits to virtually no animal aversions.
“I don’t like cockroaches,” she acknowledged. “I like everything else.
“You know,” Santos added, “when people ask me, ‘What is your favorite animal?’ — that’s a difficult question for me.”
Question: Can you update us on the status of the re-accreditation of the zoo?
Answer: The zoo plans to apply for accreditation in September 2019. A decision will be made by the AZA in March of 2020. …
We have to start our application, because it’s a beast. … Any time you go for accreditation, it’s a lot of questions to answer, making sure we’re meeting the standards. That’s why we’re moving along at a fast pace, getting the projects either started or completed.
Q: What are you doing in preparation? What projects are you trying to complete?
A:We have a lot of projects that’s in the six-year CIP (capital improvement projects), and that’s budgeted for. And so those projects are ongoing. We reroofed a lot of the barns because of the termite wood.
Q:So, basic upgrades?
A: Basic upgrades and doing some modernization to facilities. Obviously, we’ve opened the new Ectotherm Complex.
Q:Were there other little warning signals the AZA pointed out?
A: I think the main thing was to look at stable finances and the relationship between the governing authority, our nonprofit and the zoo.
Q: How is the relationship with the zoo society? It’s been tense in the past.
A: The zoo has a positive working relationship with the Honolulu Zoo Society. They support the zoo’s educational programs, which include seasonal zoo camps, Twilight Tours, docents and volunteers — services the zoo is unable to provide within its operations. …
They also provide funds for things that we haven’t budgeted for — smaller things, like a washer and dryer that went out, for washing laundry for bedding for an animal … and they support enrichment and conservation. …
And we also have a great relationship with our governing authority, which is the Department of Enterprise Services.
And we work really well and closely, with the three entities, which I think is a huge change, where they were functioning more as separate entities … now we’re all in the same boat.
Q: Are there any sort of new additions that we should be aware of?
A: Well, we’re in the process of looking at developing a new spider monkey exhibit, since that’s one of our oldest exhibits here. That’s in the design phase now. …
The zoo is constantly working on improvements to its facility. We are in the process of upgrading the zoo’s entire water system — from the 1940s? — which is antiquated and problematic. This extensive project will be done in several phases until completed.
A renovation to the Preis Building, the old front entrance to the zoo, is currently in design phase. The aged and dilapidated roof will be replaced and modifications to the interior will be constructed. …
Funds have also been approved for a new Bird Building, which will replace the old existing structure. Various improvements to replace roofs and address rust in animal holding areas are currently in progress. Construction in the zoo requires strict coordination and phasing as it involves movement of animals into adequate temporary facilities.
In the past year, specialized trainers have been brought in from the mainland to work with the animal keepers to train them to be better at understanding training and operant conditioning for welfare inspections and medical treatments or procedures. It’s also a form of enrichment when they interact with an animal.
Q: Is there a way to define what is state-of-the-art with zoo exhibits?
A: Obviously, we want it more naturalistic — and that’s really hard. What you want to do is make sure you meet all the needs of their natural behaviors, as much as possible. So, it’s not only diet, but we have to make sure that they feel safe.
You also want to include visitor experience, because a lot of times we design these exhibits for the animal and we forget that the public wants to see them, too! So we’ve got to make sure that they are visible but yet there’s space where if they really want to feel comfortable and not be stared at all the time, they can go and stand in the shade.
And there’s got to be food and water. You know, if they need water to swim in, they have water. And, you know, we call it furniture: logs, things for perching, different plants …
Q: Is there an exhibit that’s been modified lately?
A: Sun bear. They’ve been off exhibit for quite a while. We have to take them away so we could construct the Ectotherm Complex, because we didn’t want them near the construction. Then we took the opportunity to modify their habitat with a glass-viewing window. There’s sort of a viewing deck that you can look into the habitat. We’re hoping that sometime by the end of the year we’ll get the sun bears back on exhibit. Right now we have warthogs in there because we’re working on the warthog barn. And then we’ll trade them. The sequencing is real critical.
Q: Where are the bears now?
A: They’re at a big pen, at the hospital.
Q: Getting a little stir-crazy in there?
A: They have lots to do. They are kind of pampered and spoiled now. (Laughs.)
Q: Has the zoo fund authorized in the 2016 City Charter amendments stabilized things? What are your revenue sources?
A: The dedicated source of funds for the zoo, along with revenues received from the parking lot, and gift shop/food and beverage concession, and a subsidy from the general fund, all help to stabilize the zoo.
Q: How do you view the ban on live animals in some other venues, such as a circus?
A: I think it’s changing how we do things and how we view animals in captivity. Animal welfare is always a priority. I think it’s all well-intended.
Q: Some critics say even zoos have outlived their purpose. How do you answer them?
A: People are entitled to their opinion. I feel zoos are very educational as well as meaningful as we do a lot of conservation. So in that sense without zoos a lot of conservation work would not get done or supported.
Q: What was the learning curve like, becoming director?
A: It wasn’t very difficult as I have been actively involved with the operations of the zoo for some time now. It’s keeping up with new standards and making sure we are striving to maintain and achieve the zoo’s goals.
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