Hilo's Panaewa Zoo

The Panaewa Zoo is located just outside of Hilo off of highway 11 as you are heading toward the volcano area.  

Even the road to the zoo is a wonderful drive.  Inside the zoo there are many peacocks wandering around.  This guy was particularly friendly.
	The white Bengal Tiger is the pride and joy of the zoo.  He was just lounging out this day and I was not able to get a great shot of him.  His name is Namaste and was born on Sept. 30th., 1998.
A few years back the zoo was having great difficulties being able to get enough food for the animals and almost went under.  They were down to feeding the tiger some of the axis deer like those shown to the right.  I understand the zoo is in much better shape these days thanks to donations from the local farmers and markets of their older produce.
One of the more beautiful sights in the zoo is this stand of candlewax palms.  The unique red stalks is a favorite of my wife.  She really loves these trees. I don't know what the tentacles are growing out of these trees.  Are they part of the tree or a parasite? I just don't know, but I think they are the flower of the plant.
They now have a butterfly house where I was able to get this photo of a pair of monarch butterflies.  There were supposed to be more butterflies in there, but I was not able to find them. Posted by Richard Binckley at 4/13/2006 9:24 PM | View Comments | Add Comment |