Aloha!

Welcome to the
Zoo Society

Kids visiting the Children's Zoo.

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 Zoo Society 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 Zoo Society is a non-profit (501(c)3) 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.

Kruger, our 6000 pound white rhino is a favorite with kids.

The current goals of the Society are explained in our President's messages to the Society.

Who Are We?

Founded in 1969 as the Zoo Hui, the Honolulu Zoo Society of today is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and employs a permanent staff of ten.  Membership consists of over 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:

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 Moonlight Tours, Vacation Adventures and Snooze in the Zoo.  Normally, each year we have over thirty thousand school children visited the Zoo, with over three thousand participating in the guided tours and over ten thousand attending various community programs. For more information, click the Programs or Calendar links here or at the top of each page.

The Zoo Society's educational outreach program is called "Zoo to You". The "Zoo to You" program is made possible by a partnership between the Zoo Society, PREL, New City Nissan and Friends of Hawaii Charities. It brings to the classroom hands-on learning experiences about animals using biofacts such as eggs, feathers, skins and skulls. Read about our Zoo To You program.

One of our animal keepers leads volunteers on a guided tour of the Savanna.

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. Each year this extraordinarily dedicated team resulted in the donation of over 20,000 volunteer hours. Many more civic, church and service oriented groups have contributed their time by participating in special one-day community service 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 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. Read more about the new Master Plan.

Animal Welfare Research:
Research Scientist Dr. Kathy Carlstead collaborates with researchers at Oregon Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, Dallas Zoo, Smithsonian’s National Zoo, and Ocean Adventure in the Philippines, to develop methods of stress assessment for individual zoo animals.  Stress measurement is facilitated by the use of non-invasive measurement of glucocorticoids (“stress hormones”) in feces, urine and saliva.  When these physiological measures are combined with behavior observations, environmental assessments and other measures of health and well-being, it is possible to determine whether stress is a welfare problem for certain individuals or for a species in a zoo setting.

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 and again in 2006. The website for the 4th International Symposium on Vertebrate Sex Determination, April 10-14, 2006 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.

Keiki Zoo Groundbreaking

Capital Campaign:
The Zoo Society Capital Campaign set a goal of raising several million dollars to built new exhibits in the Zoo. The City of Honolulu has agreed to match these contributions on a 4-to-1 basis. As a result of the matching funds we raised almost eleven million dollars to use on improvements. This money was used to build a new veterinarian clinic and the new Keiki Zoo. Additionally, a new education building is being planned.

In March 2006, the new Keiki Zoo was dedicated, see photos. The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation donated one million dollars to the project. Zoo Director Ken Redman said the renovations are part of the zoo's master plan and are aimed at making the zoo more educational and interactive. See our news announcement.

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.