Just over a month after the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens welcomed a pair of Bengal tiger cubs into its ohana, a second new pair of animals arrived at the zoo from the mainland.
They’re a bit more scaly.
Two female American alligators are settling in to their new exhibit after arriving from Mosca, Colo., on Thursday evening. Though they are both 10 years old, they are not yet full-grown and are about 4 feet long.
The alligators are gifts of Colorado Gators Reptile Park.
The park, located in a geothermal hot spot in the southern part of the state, is also a tilapia farm and has been raising alligators since 1987 — the reptiles were brought in to take care of fish remains.
It has been years since the Panaewa zoo has had alligators, zoo director Pam Mizuno said. The new pair lives in an exhibit once home to feral pigs. It was renovated by the nonprofit Friends of the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens in anticipation of a crocodilian resident (caimans were also considered).
The two alligators, along with members of the Young family, which owns Colorado Gators Reptile Park, had a long day of travel, including three plane changes, before arriving in animal quarantine in Honolulu.
Their crates, plastered with ITO stickers (the alligators were bundled into sleeping bags before going into the crates), were near the enclosure, where both animals floated in a manmade pond.
The alligators came with the names Lilo and Stitch, but Mizuno said those will likely be changed because the zoo already has a pair of kinkajou with those monikers.
Another pair of zoo newcomers will also need names.
Two adolescent emus, one male and one female, were found wandering in Kurtistown and brought to the zoo. They are now living in an enclosure next door to a herd of goats.
Mizuno said Panaewa took in a rescue emu once before from a Waikoloa owner, which was so tame that it was sent to the Honolulu Zoo for its petting zoo.
Emus are tall, flightless birds native to Australia. They are excellent jumpers; Mizuno said there has been talk of renovating the former axis deer exhibit so the birds can move in when they are older.
Zoo attendance has been on the rise since the arrival of the new tiger cubs in March. More than 5,000 people visited the zoo the weekend of their arrival. Spring break week also saw a boost in visitors.
“Everybody’s trying to get a glimpse,” Mizuno said.
The 9-month-old cubs, an orange female named Sriracha and a white male named Tzatziki, are living in a quarantine area at the back of the main tiger enclosure until July, but are still visible to the public when they sun themselves or play in the outdoor portion.
“They’ve really adjusted,” Mizuno said.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
