HONOLULU -- KITV 4 News has learned that plans to move Rusti the orangutan from Honolulu Zoo to Kualoa Ranch have hit a big snag.
The city cited the ranch and the nonprofit group that owns Rusti for building his new cage without a building permit.
Rusti's move could be delayed for weeks or even months because the city says his new habitat still needs a building permit and probably a more cumbersome zoning permit.
Rusti has been kept in a cage at the Honolulu Zoo since 1997. He was supposed to stay here for only a few months and then move to a new Big Island orangutan sanctuary run by a nonprofit group, but those plans fell through.
Early this year, the nonprofit Orangutan Foundation struck a deal with Kualoa Ranch to move him there. The foundation spent about $20,000 building this new cage, but did so without a building permit.
The city cited the facility a month ago, and said it must get a permit or tear the cage down.
"There was a lot of pressure to get the job done and I guess nobody thought that a couple of chain-link fences were necessary to get a building permit. But, it definitely is," Kualoa Ranch President John Morgan said.
"We really didn't understand the full rules and regulations."
It gets more complicated. The city's notice of violation said because the ranch plans to house a primate here, it may need a conditional use permit. That is something that can take months to obtain after a public hearing.
The ranch president disagrees.
"We don't think we're a zoo. Basically, we're a cattle ranch that has a lot of different recreational activities and educational programs," Morgan said.
The ranch is now applying for an after-the-fact building permit.
The plan is for Rusti to live next to an ostrich in this cage until a new cage is built for him that is about twice as big.
The new area includes a World War II-era bunker, which would serve as a night-house for Rusti and it also would be a place for him to hide out from the sun during the day.
"We want to make sure that the cage is secure, both for Rusti's sake and for the public. So, I'd heard about open-topped cages, but I don't think we want that here. We want to have a closed-top cage," Morgan said. A city spokeswoman said the ranch has not responded to the citation officially yet. If the orangutan is going to be on display, like the other animals there, a city spokeswoman said a zoning variance will be required at the very least.
That means neighbors will be asked for their comments and a public hearing will have to be held. It's a process that could take a couple of months.
The bottom line is that Rusti is staying at the zoo for several weeks or months while all of the issues are sorted out.
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