BY HAWAII REPORTER
Honolulu Zoo on Worst List for Elephants
The Honolulu Zoo has made a listing of worst zoos for elephants for the second consecutive year.
In Defense of Animals released its top 10 list giving Honolulu Zoo an “F” grade in its effort to expand the elephant enclosure.
“A miserly “expansion” that would give Mari and Vaigai less than an acre of space – though elephants naturally walk tens of miles daily – simply fails the test,” the group said. It noted Honolulu Zoo could exit the list if it ended the elephant program.
The group noted North American zoos have spent at least $500 million in the past decade to remodel elephant exhibits in addition to the almost $20 spent annually on maintaining the less than 300 elephants in their confines.
“It’s absurd for zoos to claim to be conserving elephants when those in zoos are suffering and dying prematurely because of inadequate conditions and harmful practices,” said IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle. “The key to elephants’ survival is to protect them where they naturally live.”
UH, Hawaii Tokai International College Sign Memorandum
The University of Hawaii System announced the signing of a formal memorandum of understanding with senior leadership of the Tokai University Educational System that paves the way for the permanent relocation of the Hawaii Tokai International College to a location steps away from the New UH West Oahu campus.
The agreement is seen as allowing both university systems to take advantage of shared programs and other facilities while allowing students from Hawaii and Japan to live in the same dormitories. Tokai is one of Japan’s largest private university systems.
Plans call for the new Hawaii Tokai campus to open soon after UH West Oahu’s fall 2012 opening. It also allows for students from Hawaii Tokai to take two years of instruction and later attain a bachelor’s degree at UH West Oahu.
Hawaii Five-0 Comes in Second to New NBC Show
Hawaii Five-0, the most popular television series currently shot in the state, was second in its time slot on Monday night, according to preliminary Nielsen Ratings.
The show was beaten by the debut of Harry’s Law, a new legal drama from producer David E. Kelley that stars Academy Award winner Kathy Bates. Preliminary ratings show the new NBC show attracted 11.04 million viewers, according to futoncritic.com.
That compares to the 10.62 million for Hawaii Five-0.
The Hawaii crime remake did beat Harry’s Law in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, drawing a 2.9 rating to the 2.1 for Harry’s Law.