Ebirah Goes to Hawai'i

So, Hawai'i is the 50th and most recent state of the U.S. and the most "exotic" place I've ever been to.

an asterisk means something of interest to Zoochatters.
THE FLIGHT THERE

I wake up early in my bedroom, surrounded by stuffed animals and my blobby doggo. It's flight day. Today, we will be heading to Newark to begin our flight to Hawai'i. I am tired, but I manage to slip into my day clothes (and by the way, this was like 5 in the morning). My dad had ordered an Uber to come drive us to the airport, so we jam our stuff in the trunk of the car, and lucky me not only gets to take some of the sourest pills I've ever had (to increase my immune system's power), but I get to sit in the middle. Not the best place to sit. Anyway, the guy who drove us was a nice DJ who had been all over the world, just thought I should mention that. Soon, we arrive at the airport, and we walk towards the gate. I sit down, play some Smash Bros. on my Switch and get breakfast (a hearty, buttery Auntie Anne's pretzel). Anyway, we start boarding the plane pretty soon and guess what, AN 11 HOUR FLIGHT! This was the longest flight I've ever been on, and you might think well if you're flying that far you might as well get something with lots of leg room but you'd be W R O N G. I won't bore you with the details, but I watched 2 Hotel Transylvania movies as well as watching the same 4 episodes of Bob's Burgers over and over again.

THE FIRST DAY

Once we arrive in Honolulu, the capital of Hawai'i and one of the 2 main cities of the archipelago. We are pooped, so we check into the hotel room (which had some of the most uncomfortable beds I've ever sat in) and head out for dinner at a local grocery store. I obtain a croissant turkey sandwich which I narf down extremely quickly. After that I watch a small amount of the Office and fall asleep.

THE SECOND DAY*

The second day begins with me waking up and heading to a local breakfast place, M.A.C, which had some delicious pasta which I ingested extremely quickly, and we walk over to the... HONOLULU ZOO! Honolulu Zoo is the largest zoo in Hawai'i and is a hotly debated topic by many people, including animal rights groups. Our zoo trip begins with looking at a pot. Ebirah, you might say, Why is this of interesting, I say SHUT UP I'M TALKING. This pot is filled with water and has a group of tadpoles. Tadpoles. Baby frogs, so that begins our trip. Anyway, soon we see a pond filled with all sorts of ducks, including the rare Laysan teal. On the left, a row of aviaries makes up the zoo's tropical bird exhibits. Highlights include birds of paradise, iguanas, and hornbills. (I'll upload the full thing soon). The tropical bird exhibit houses a wide variety of amazing species native to all parts of the world, and even though it doesn't house many ABC species, it does house some extremely rare species that are difficult to find in the wild.

The next exhibit is the nene sanctuary. Honolulu Zoo is essential for conservation of their native habitats, and one of those living in their native habitats is the nene. They are a rare species that can only be found in the Hawaiian Islands. You might think what is a nene? A nene is a species of goose that can only be found on the Hawaiian Islands, and seeing them here is a real treat for Zoochatters, as they are a difficult species to find in captivity.

The next part of the trip is the Sumatran tiger exhibit. Me and my family enjoyed watching the charismatic creature squanter around its exhibit and interact with a keeper. The exhibit was of a decent size, though it was partitioned due to another cat species in the area (We'll look at that soon enough)

I am tired of typing so much in one go, so tomorrow I will upload more of the zoo journey to this thread.

 

... is that some sort of British joke I'm too American to understand?

 

I think that most Zoochaters are aware of what a Nene is, but few of us would say that it's "difficult to find in captivity"... Maybe are they much rarer in USA zoos than in European zoos?

By the way, interesting and promising thread to read. Nice!

 

They are very rare in US collections. I've never seen one.

 

That's interesting! Thanks to Sir Peter Scott at Slimbridge they're a common sight over here (pleasingly!).

 

That is interesting. They used to be quite common in U.S. zoos back in the 1980s, at least on the west coast.

 

So strange! An animal that is beautiful, distinctive and interesting, critically endangered, breeds very well and it's fully stabilished in zoos worldwide so no issues with imports/exports... I can't understand why it disappeared.

 

I have seen them at Sylvan Heights i think Zoo Atlanta or NC Zoo 3 Palms Zoo in Delaware and others I have forgotten

 

Just checked back and I didn't see them at Atlanta when I was there, but I did see them at Tampa/Lowry Park - that was in 2013.

 

Just did some research. Seems to be only 9 US holders outside the 50th state.

 

Which are?

 

Alameda Park, Buttonwood Park, Columbus, Houston, Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy, Louisville, SDZ Safari Park, and Tampa. Unless I'm missing one, that's it outside of the Aloha State.

 

hmmm yes nene were fairly common in the 70s and 80s. Its kinda weird in that as they have done so much better in the wild they have become scarcer in US collections, but to some extent that mirrors the overall decline in waterfowl in US zoos from its heyday.

 

Your joke makes me smiling, specially because here in Europe we have another state/nation that could be considered as a state of chaos and which should be well known for you (brexit, cough, cough...)

 

3 Palms in Delaware and Sylvan Heights n North Carolina. I don't remember this species at Columbus.

 

Plus at least SeaWorld San Diego, that casually is where I took the photo of the species for my file archive.

 

Ok, well I did say I'd upload today, so I'll do that.

After seeing the tiger, we get some food and drink and head to the children's zoo (Of which my father is less than enthusiastic). Anyway, we arrive and it's really cool, probably my favorite exhibit in the whole zoo. It features a huge amount of wildlife, including farm animals but also some others such as coconut crabs. Yep, this was the first zoo I've been to that had coconut crabs. The area also had an animal care building, so the animals could be taken care of.

Children's zoo was an amazing exhibit, and I definitely recommend it for anyone going to the zoo. The next area is an African complex, which is the best one I've ever been to (seriously). The exhibit was amazing, and it featured a huge amount of wildlife, from tiny birds to absolute units of rhinoceroses. Highlights of this area include a nicely sized Psavannah herbivore complex with giraffes, zebras, cranes, etc. My favorite exhibit here personally would have to have been the savannah reptile area, with an open-air Nile monitor area. This was also the first place I've ever seen lesser flamingos.

Africa surprisingly takes up a huge amount of space of the zoo, so unfortunately the rest of the premises isn't really open to development. The next exhibit is the controversial Asian elephant exhibit. The area is quite expansive, but unfortunately it does have an inadequate amount of shade (More trees would help) All in all, I think that the animal rights organizations are once again acting up.

The next exhibit is the "bridge" between the elephant area and the ectotherm complex. This exhibit's viewing is a literal bridge, and it is home to some extremely rare-in-the-wild crocodilians. GHARIALS. The largest gharials I've ever seen inhabit a nice pond exhibit alongside several turtles.

The ectotherm complex itself is a very well-done exhibit featuring different types of ectotherms. Not only does it have the crowd-pleasers (Giant tortoises, giant salamanders, etc.) but a lot of different ectotherms. My personal favorite exhibit was the one featuring invasive species in Hawai'i, such as the giant African land snail. However, unfortunately I wasn't able to get pictures of 2 exhibits in here, the ones for the sungazer and American alligator. Both exhibits were quite nice, however.

We're near the end of the zoo, we'll be arriving at the final complex, Primates of the World. The first exhibit here is for orangutans, which many would say is a travesty, but I think it was a well done exhibit, it meets all of their requirements. Unfortunately, the female had to be separated from the male due to a deteriorating relationship, so she had to go to a less adequate area off to the side.

Primates of the World also features some nice modernized monkey islands with siamangs and ring-tailed lemurs. The real treat were the "easter egg" animals in here, such as the mata mata in the siamang moat and the fish all over the place.

Rounding out the primate complex are 2 exhibits, one which was unfortunately empty and another one holding spider monkeys. The final few exhibits in the zoo include a massive string of aviaries with many different birds, including the rare koloa. The last exhibit was ironically one of the first in the zoo, a flamingo pond with flamingos and such

So, what does Ebirah think of this zoo? Ebirah liked this zoo alot and thinks it is worth your time if you are ever in Honolulu.