FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             November 18, 2005

Release No.  M-101

HONOLULU ZOO OPENS NEW VETERINARY CLINIC

            Mayor Mufi Hannemann joined officials from the City Department of Enterprise Services and the Honolulu Zoological Society in opening the Honolulu Zoo’s new $4 million veterinary clinic.

            The state-of-the-art facility, in the corner of the zoo grounds near Paki and Monsarrat avenues, includes special rooms for exams, x-rays, surgery and recovery for small mammals, birds and reptiles. It includes a separate modular quarantine building and outdoor recovery cages with shelters and food preparation space for larger animals.

            The project was partially funded with $633,380 in private donations.

            “This new clinic represents the first in a series of sorely needed and long-awaited improvements we’re making to the Honolulu Zoo,” said Mayor Mufi Hannemann. “We’re also working on the new home for Rusti the orangutan and finishing up the elephant facility.

            “I am especially pleased that private donors pitched in to such an extent to bring this veterinary clinic to fruition,” said Hannemann. “That’s the kind of public-private partnership that helps stretch our tax dollars.”

-30-

Contact:

           Bill Brennan, 527-6928

            Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767