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Rare Hawai‘i: It wasn’t meant to be a barnyard
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Policy and Control Outside Hawaii (Hawaii Lags)
Newspaper and Magazine Articles NEW article Dec. 5 '07
Feral Pigs and the Death of Hawaii's Native Birds
Don Chapman describes being in a Hawaiian rainforest
Edward O. Wilson on Biodiversity
Report about invasive species in Hawaii available online From The Hawaii State Legislative Reference Bureau (pdf file)
Environmental Valuation and the Hawaiian Economy takes a look at the financial and social costs of losing native Hawai`i.
USGS's Hawaii and the Pacific Islands page. Scroll down a few pages and look for Feral Pigs, followed by Feral Goats and so on.
Link to Nature out of place, Chapter 1 (pdf file)
Controlling Feral Animals (see how they do it Down Under)
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PROBLEM OVERVIEW: |
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Hawai‘i
cannot afford the financial or ecological costs of a game
program that protects harmful invasive species |
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"Hunter’s delight, forest scourge." Pigs dig up hiking trails, forcing hikers on narrow trails to walk through puddles reeking of pig waste. Hawai‘i’s fresh water is being contaminated with diseases such as leptospirosis, a serious threat to human health that is spread by feral pigs and rodents. Pools of “pig-enriched” water (particularly in pig-hollowed hapu'u trunks) are deadly to native Hawaiian forest birds. Such puddles provide a perfect breeding ground for the mosquitoes that carry avian malaria. Another mosquito-borne disease of humans, dengue fever, is aided by the same nutrient-rich puddles. |
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| More than 50% of Hawaii's native flora is "at risk (extinct, endangered, vulnerable, or rare)." Much of this is due to game mammals. The beautiful plant at right, a species of Cyanea, or haha, was once thought to be extinct. It was very exciting when healthy plants were found still surviving in a remote area. Unfortunately, in Hawai‘i, endangered species are food for introduced goats and pigs, which found the plants (above). | |
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Hawai‘i lags behind the rest of the world in planning and implementing game management and animal control to protect its land, water, native species, economy, and human health. Until residents insist on effective game mammal control, these invasive species will continue to destroy our natural capital and future opportunities. |
| Above: Feeding pigs dug up these hapu‘u ferns. This shows why the forest dies "from the ground up." First the groundcover plants such as ferns and seedlings go, and invasive weeds exploit the openings. Larger native shrubs and trees are crowded out and subjected to bark stripping by sheep and deer. The puddles of water in dug-out hapu'u trunks harbor the most mosquito larvae of anyplace in the forest. This picture was taken on Maui. | |
Feral pigs encroach on homes and crops, digging up yards, golf courses, and parks. All unfenced crops are at risk. Mac nut orchards may lose 40% or more of the crop to pigs, because the nuts are harvested from the ground. Homeowners near natural areas are afraid to go outside at times because of feral pigs in their yards. Grazing and browsing animals destroy native forests, prevent recovery of rare and endangered species, cause erosion that damages coral reefs and homes, and pollute the watersheds with disease. Game mammals are a major factor in
the spread of alien plant species throughout the islands. The alien
invasion is changing the character of the islands and the island
lifestyle. Immediate, effective action is needed to reverse this
trend. |
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Another look . . . before and after feral
pigs |
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It's hard to believe, but owners of domestic pigs sometimes release their animals in healthy native forests. Some hunters also introduce animals to new areas. This picture was taken in the Upper Hana rainforest, when it was pig-free. |
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When the photographer came back three years later, pigs had moved in. |
Summary |
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