Tag Archives: Hilo

Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo

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Sriracha, a tiger at Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, Hawaii
Sriracha yawns. Check out those teeth!

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Animal or Bird in farm or zoo.’ See more responses here.

Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, is the only zoo on the island. It’s quite small, but is definitely a family-friendly destination. We like to visit once in a while to see the zoo’s star attractions, Sriracha and Tzatziki, a pair of Bengal Tigers. Captions are on the photos.

An Emu at Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, Hawaii
An Emu having a good hair day.
A Red Tegu lizard at Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, Hawaii
A Red Tegu lizard.
A Peacock at Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, Hawaii
Peacocks wander the grounds looking for tasty snacks.
Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtles at Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, Hawaii
Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtles.
Tzatziki, a white tiger at Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, Hawaii
Tzatziki, staying cool in the shade of a stand of bamboo.
A bench representing Hawaiian crows at Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo, in Hilo, Hawaii

This is one of the many benches in the zoo representing animals that live there. These are ‘Alalās, the endemic Hawaiian Crow. There are no longer any ‘Alalās in the wild and just over a hundred in captivity. The building behind this bench is one of the few places where these birds are bred, with a view to reintroducing them in the wild. So far, attempts to do this have failed, for a variety of reasons including disease and predation. One of the current projects is a release on Maui where Ios, Hawaiian hawks, a major predator of ‘Alalās, are no longer found.

Lili`uokalani Gardens

A bridge at Liliuokalani Park in Hilo, Hawaii
This stone bridge is near the center of the park.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘National Garden Month.’ See more responses here.

A while ago, I spent some time in Lili`uokalani Gardens, in Hilo. The gardens cover almost 25 acres, including Moku Ola, better known as Coconut Island. They date back to 1917 and are named after Queen Liliʻuokalani, who was the last ruling monarch of Hawaii, before the kingdom’s overthrow by the U.S.A. in 1893.

An entrance to Liliuokalani Park in Hilo, Hawaii
The North Torii gate entrance.
A plane coming in to land seen from Liliuokalani Park in Hilo, Hawaii
It’s not the quietest park with planes passing through the trees!
A bridge at Liliuokalani Park in Hilo, Hawaii
This wooden bridge is the third version, the first two having been destroyed in tsunamis.

Over the years, tsunamis have damaged the gardens, which are situated on the waterfront. But reconstruction, after these events, has restored and improved the gardens and kept them as an integral part of Hilo’s downtown.

Palms in Liliuokalani Park in Hilo, Hawaii
There aren’t a lot of flowers, but there are many palms and other trees.
The Fukuoka Lantern in Liliuokalani Park in Hilo, Hawaii
The Fukuoka Lantern.
A Lantern in Liliuokalani Park in Hilo, Hawaii
Another lantern with palms as a backdrop.

For more information about Lili`uokalani Gardens, go to https://www.liliuokalanigardens.org/