Honolulu Zoo needs alternatives to current operating structure

The Honolulu Zoo Society (HZS) was established in 1969 as a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to support the Honolulu Zoo and its mission. Through a cooperative agreement with the city, the mission of HZS was 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.

While the Zoo Society’s mission has evolved over the years to include outreach, education, volunteers, membership and fundraising, the overarching focus 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.

Many years ago, the education program and the volunteer program were part of the city zoo’s responsibilities and budget. They are also part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums accreditation criteria. Because of funding shortfalls in the city zoo’s budget, the Zoo Society was asked by the zoo to take on the education programs and the volunteer programs.

I believe these moves were made in the 1990s and this arrangement still exists today. In so doing, the Zoo Society took on five additional permanent positions and six temporary part-time positions and was solely responsible to raise the necessary funding to market, staff and operate the programs for the keiki of Hawaii with no reimbursement from the city.

The city continues to raise its expectations for the Honolulu Zoo Society to generate more operational funding to support the zoo. However, in many respects, the Zoo Society is hamstrung in its efforts to do so. For example, the annual Zoofari Gala (Honolulu Zoo Society’s largest fundraiser) is no longer held at the zoo, limiting the gala’s attraction of bringing donors to the event.

Also, in most successful zoos, animal encounters with the public serve a dual purpose as an educational and fundraising endeavor. As an example, at the San Diego Zoo, you can go behind the scenes and have your picture taken with a live cheetah, or feed the elephants, or feed the hippos, etc. These zoos generate the much-needed dollars through their animal education and interaction programs to support infrastructure and facility improvements.

At the Honolulu Zoo, these animal encounters are restricted because of the city’s concern of liability, which could be mitigated through the installation of proper and multiple safety enclosures, training and education. With these measures in place, it would be a minimal risk with high return, in my opinion.

A recent news article said the city and the Zoo Society need to work more closely together (“Officials urged to ‘step up’ on zoo,” Star-Advertiser, March 28). Absolutely. But many of the city government’s procedures severely impact this relationship.

For example, on average, it took over two months for the Zoo Society to get approval to conduct a program. In many cases, programs were dropped because timely approval or disapproval was not obtained. This is very frustrating for HZS staff and volunteer board members.

Director Baird Fleming and his staff do a wonderful job in running the Honolulu Zoo. I also applaud the efforts of Councilmembers Trevor Ozawa and Kymberly Pine in taking proactive measures to help the zoo. However, in my humble opinion, perhaps we should look into another alternative. Many zoos have turned to privatization in running their zoos. We should explore this option.

The city’s funding shortfalls are no secret to the community. The so-called funding “yo-yo” will continue under the current situation. Critical times call for critical decisions.