Local opinions change about what it means to provide an authentic Hawaiian experience to the visitor. The failure of the recent vote to send more penguins to Maui reflects that.
For nearly 40 years, guests arriving at Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa have been greeted by a group of penguins who, while perhaps charming in their feathered suits, are completely unrelated to Hawaii.
Now, questions swirl about the future of the resort's colony of black-footed African penguins and whether those flightless birds, an endangered species, will continue to wobble and swim around a coop in the Hyatt's main lobby.
Hyatt's application to the state Board of Agriculture to import four other penguins failed last week, although the Maui resort says it needs the birds added so they can continue to breed there and maintain sufficient numbers in the colony.
The demand comes amid changing trends in Hawaii about tourism and how important it is to offer the visitor an authentic experience.
African black-footed penguins roam through their enclosures at the Honolulu Zoo. A separate, long-running colony at Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa was recently discussed for commercial use by the Board of Agriculture.
On Maui, the six penguins that currently live in the resort's lobby — three males and three females — were bred from parents who were imported years ago after the resort obtained the appropriate permits, according to state agriculture officials. The resort says it wants to continue breeding the birds and keep its show running indefinitely.
It was featured prominently on the homepage of the Hyatt website, which markets the resort to potential customers.
However, members of the state's Agricultural Council expressed reservations at their meeting on Tuesday against importing exotic animals into Hawaii for commercial and recreational use.
"It looks like the Hyatt has done a good job over the years" in caring for the penguins, said Diane Lee, who represents the island of Hawaii on the board. However, the demand is for entertainment — and any educational value for keeping them there is excessive, she said.
Moreover, Hyatt's request to preserve the exhibition "really raises the conflict of the trend that's going on here in Hawaii with the public," Lai said. "Our public policy is changing, and it is changing rapidly to encourage ... authentic, local, Hawaiian practices and experiences to better inform visitors of what it means to be in this place."
Board member James Gomez wondered what tourists take home from their visit. “What did you learn when you were here in Hawaii-Ni, on Maui? I looked at the penguins.”
Board member Randy Cabral supported the request, however. He noted that only last year the board approved a request from the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort to import a silent swan there.
"I don't see the difference between these two," Cabral said. "Why one and not the other?"
The council voted 5-4 in support of the request, but that fell by one vote from the six votes needed to approve the import of the penguins.
New board member, Ania Wieczorek, abstained from voting on Tuesday because she did not have the opportunity to read the application materials. However, Wieczorek expressed reservations similar to those made by members who voted against it.
‘A Part Of Our Family’
Officials with the state Department of Agriculture's Plant Quarantine Branch, which recommended the board approve Hyatt's request, say there is no record of any regulatory issues with penguins kept at Maui Hyatt.
Neither Povi Carisa-Abney, Hyatt's wildlife supervisor, nor other resort officials responded to requests for comment on their request to the Board of Directors.
However, Karissa Abney told board members on Tuesday that the resort's penguin colony represented "an opportunity for us to share the appreciation of animals around the world."
"We are taking steps to include and appreciate more of our local animals as well," she added.
Penguins, whose natural habitat is along the coast of South Africa on the other side of the globe, are “a very big part of our picture” and the resort hopes the exhibition will continue so that future visitors can appreciate them and see how they are,” said Carissa Abney.
Hyatt wants to follow the penguin standards set by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which require at least 10 highly social birds in an exhibit, according to Karissa Abney.
"This recommendation supports the importance of social structure in a penguin colony and allows birds to choose mates and establish a social hierarchy," the AZA said in a 2014 report.
The enclosure at the Hyatt is designed for 12 to 16 penguins and can be "restructured" to house up to 20 birds, according to the resort's request.
The board can take up the matter again at a later time since its vote on Tuesday technically left the request unresolved, and it was not dismissed.
It is not clear what Hyatt will do next, and whether she will disband her penguin colony if she is eventually forced to keep it limited to just six birds.
It's also not clear if he would harm those six penguins if they were separated at this point. An AZA representative said Thursday that its penguin experts would likely be "hesitant" to consider it because the Hyatt is not accredited by the association and those experts would not be familiar with the facility or the birds.
Education versus entertainment
African black-footed penguins are on display at the Honolulu Zoo on Oahu. On Maui, there is no comparable municipal zoo. In general, there is a limited list of exotic animals besides penguins eligible for viewing at Hawaii resorts.
Jonathan Ho, head of the state's Department of Quarantine Inspection and Compliance, said lions and tigers, for example, would not be eligible for viewing due to excessive public safety risks.
He added that in general, the council often does not receive requests from resorts to import such animals for recreational purposes.
About a decade ago, the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki also housed African black-legged penguins, but several years later, the resort shipped the animals to Maryland, according to Hu. He said he wasn't sure why the resort had chosen to make the change, but that it wasn't because of any organizational issues.
"They were kind of walking away from that for whatever reason," Hu added. Officials at the Hilton in Waikiki did not respond to a request for comment.
Ho said the state branch was confident in the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort's ability to safely house pelicans and the Hyatt Regency Maui's ability to safely house penguins.
"That's all there is to it," he said. "In our view (swans and penguins) they don't differ much because both elbows can safely contain animals from escaping."
However, Ho acknowledged that the state agricultural board has broad discretion in deciding whether to approve requests to import those animals.
“I think there are a lot of current ideas about the Hawaii experience,” Susan Case, chief of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources, said in an interview Friday. She is also an ex officio member of the Agricultural Council, and voted to reject Hayat's request.
“I think there is an interest on the part of Hawaiians in portraying Hawaii in a real way. Exotic animals are not,” Kiss said. “Obviously a lot of people are interested in seeing exotic animals all over the world, but are we doing it as an educational experience or as an entertainment experience?"
Civil Beat's coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nestro Futuro Foundation and the Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation.