The lions and tigers and bears just might think "oh, my" when they set paw into the Honolulu Zoo's new $4.3 million veterinary clinic.

That's because until yesterday, the animal hospital for the more than 1,100 animal residents of the zoo has been cramped quarters in a vintage-1953 house that once served as the home of the former veterinarian.

Zoo veterinarian Dr. Ben Okimoto helped dedicate the new facility at a ceremony yesterday morning.

"We finally have a real animal hospital," Okimoto said.

The 7,000-square-foot main building is an up-to-date facility, complete with rooms for exams, X-rays, surgery and recovery, Okimoto said. It allows medical staff to keep sick animals away from those in for routine examinations, and it provides separate space for small mammals, birds and reptiles.

Okimoto pointed with pride to the outdoor enclosures that can be used for recovery and even some space to grow mulberry, hibiscus, bananas, sweet potatoes and other animal-friendly foods.

He said the facility is better for the staff who care for the animals because it's less cramped and has more rooms designed for animal care, rather than sandwiched in between other functions in leftover space.

"We can do a lot of things easily and more efficiently," he said. "We'll be able to do a lot more for the animals than we have."

For the animals, he said, the main improvement is probably the space to separate the various species into areas that can be cooled or heated, based on their particular needs. And he said the clinic is outfitted with an additional $500,000 worth of equipment including an X-ray room identical to that analyzing humans at modern hospitals across town.

Okimoto said the clinic should serve the zoo well over the next 20 to 30 years. He said the clinic can easily handle patients that range from the tiniest of finches up to zebras.

Some animals are still too big for in-house care and get most of their treatment in "house calls." "The elephants are tractable enough that they can be walked," he said.

He said the main medical problem for most zoo animals tends to be parasites, from intestinal bugs to lice. But the rate of illnesses varies from three a week to three a day. "There's no routine," he said. "We don't have that many sick animals."

He said the clinic is modeled after one in Miami that he first saw 13 years ago. "It's not real fancy but very functional," he said.

A longtime zoo advocate as a councilman, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he is happy to see improvements continuing at the zoo with the help of private donations through the Honolulu Zoo Society, which paid for 20 percent of the clinic that opened yesterday.

"Thank you very much for your partnership, for your willingness to stay with us as we work toward this dream of having a world-class zoo with a public-private partnership second to none," he said. He has been working toward similar partnerships to help support other city functions, including park maintenance.

"We need to make sure our animals are healthy, our animals are cared for," Hannemann said.

Business executive Sharon Weiner, of the Honolulu Zoo Society, in turn thanked city officials for helping to make the zoo a better place.

"Partnership, partnership, partnership," she said.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.