Animals in Captivity

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Honolulu Zoo, Honolulu, HI (2026)

In September 2025, our team completed an undercover zoo investigation as part of our larger evaluation of the top zoos in the U.S.: the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki, Hawaii. To ensure that we depict the zoo industry fairly, we only visited Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) certified facilities that are widely considered to excel in the fields of animal care and facilitate meaningful interactions between animals and human visitors.

During our visit, we assessed the accuracy and efficacy of each major aim stated by the zoo industry, including educating visitors about the animals, providing optimal animal welfare with appropriate physical and mental stimulation, and participating in, or leading, meaningful conservation efforts. It is our intention that by providing data from the top zoos in the U.S., we illustrate a more accurate picture and scrutinize what these facilities offer the animal inhabitants and human visitors.

We then argue whether zoos can justify their existence and continue to keep wild animals in captivity based on our findings. This research acts as an individual case study and adds to our overall assessment of the remaining zoos, which we will update in due course.