70 million years of evolution. Thousands of plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. Introduced pigs, goats, deer and sheep roaming freely over public lands. More than 265 extinctions and counting.

(Note: If the format of this page looks strange, try another browser, like Firefox.)

• Since the Territorial government's rigorous 50-year animal control effort ended with the prospect of an official State game program in 1959, Hawai'i's natural areas, farms, and back yards have been subject to predation by free-roaming pigs, goats, sheep, and deer. These animals are controlled around the world as introduced pests. Hawai'i lags behind, and pays the price with ongoing degradation of land and water and no safety for the islands' native plants and animals, or peace of mind for residents confined to their homes by pigs in their yards.

• Other countries and states control feral animals for human health reasons alone. Hawai'i must implement a plan to limit game mammals to appropriate hunting areas. Island medical researchers are very worried about avian influenza, in light of the combination of feral pigs and feral chickens common in Hawai'i's natural areas. See article, Pigs Linked to Spanish Influenza Pandemic

• Our future food independence is at risk, with these animals representing a reservoir of disease for both livestock and humans. Feral pigs were implicated in the outbreak of E. coli on the mainland in 2006. They prey on young animals and eat rotting carcasses of their own species and other livestock.

Although they provide a recreational and food resource, all of Hawai‘i’s game mammals are introduced invasive species that:

• damage private property, crops, and recreational areas
• spread other invasive species such as strawberry guava and aggressive grasses
• damage Hawaiian forests and streams, impairing the function of watersheds
• contaminate the fresh water supply with disease-causing organisms
• destroy native species and their habitat
• prevent the recovery of rare and endangered species
• increase rockfalls, mudslides, and reef siltation by accelerating erosion
• cause vehicle collisions on the roads

Because game mammals are not limited to appropriate hunting areas but roam freely over every island, these burdens are borne by all of the state’s approximately 1,300,000 residents. In contrast, in 2006, the State sold just 8,345 hunting licenses, including game bird licenses. It has been said that 90% of the land is managed for less than 1% of the population.

• Many “hunting areas” are actually conservation lands that are designated for hunting to reduce the number of animals in those areas. However, this policy has never worked; the animals reproduce far too rapidly to be controlled through public hunting alone, and remote areas see very few hunters. The number and range of game animals on every island continues to increase, while native species and land quality continue to decline.

It's time to start reversing the damage. Why not work over the long term to put barrier fences around game management areas, instead of residents and resource managers trying to fence in everything they don't want destroyed? For the short term: comprehensive planning and implementation of emergency control measures is needed to protect rare ecosystems and native species.

Also immediately convene a study group to determine how much money Hawai'i can afford to spend on the game program. (Itemizing existing annual expenditures on animal control measures such as fencing and trapping would be illustrative.) Then select the best areas to provide hunting opportunities and prepare a long-term plan to fence them and remove the animals outside those areas. If the areas are not tiny, this plan cannot be legitimately criticized as "canned hunting."

There is no other way to prevent animal damage and control from being an endless, limitless expense and a risk to human and animal health.

• Before the Polynesians arrived, Hawaii had no hoofed animals. The Polynesians brought small pigs that were kept as livestock, not released into the forest and hunted as later animals were. (A few may dispute this, but most evidence indicates the Polynesian pig was a domestic animal, not a game animal. For more information, see P.Q. Tomich, 1986, Mammals in Hawaii.)

• During the era in which Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii, it was common for ships’ crews to release domestic animals on the islands they visited, to multiply and provide a food source for later visits.

• Cook and subsequent ships brought goats, sheep, cattle, and European swine to Hawaii, beginning in 1778.

• All these animals thrived and began to permanently alter the island landscape, as grazing animals do all over the world.

• Around 1900, faced with massive watershed damage by feral mammals, the Hawaii Territorial Board of Agriculture and Forestry initiated an animal control program. It included shooting, poisoning, bounties, and fencing a system of Forest Reserves. In about 50 years, 170,000 feral pigs were removed from the forests statewide.

• During these years, game managers from the mainland began to have a greater influence. Note this curious paragraph from an April 26, 1950 USFWS press release:

"The numbers of feral sheep and goats grazing on the ranges of the various islands also created problems in the loss of habitat--the destruction of cover and subsequent erosion of the soil. Today the goats, sheep, and pigs are classed as game and are hunted as 'mainlanders' hunt deer. Hunting, in some areas, has reduced this 'game' to such low numbers that seasons must be imposed to insure future sport. The Japanese, or 'axis,' deer--which were brought to Molakai [sic] Island during the last century as a gift to the King--also offer possibilities for transplanting to the other islands to add to hunting opportunities, Mr. Rutherford* says. The Territory is now studying these acclimated deer to determine if such transplanting operations are advisable." *Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Branch of Federal Aid, who at the time of this press release 'had recently returned from Hawaii, where he inspected the Territory's projects under the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Act.'

One wonders: If the FWS had not become involved, perhaps the animal control program would have continued, to prevent "the destruction of cover and subsequent erosion of the soil." We'll never know.

• Beginning in the 1950s, additional game species were introduced. DOFAW's forerunner, the Hawaii Division of Fish and Game, introduced mouflon to Kauai, Hawaii, and Lanai. Axis deer, previously limited to Molokai, were introduced to Maui, Lanai, and Oahu. With statehood in 1959, HDFG took over responsibility for free-roaming hoofed animals from the Board of Agriculture and Forestry. HDFG ended the policy of reducing animal populations to protect the land and water and instituted a policy of sustained yield, with bag limits and hunting seasons.

• Since 1959, there has been no effective plan to protect public land and private property from the damage caused by pigs, goats, sheep, and deer that wander freely over the islands.

• In the meantime, other states and other countries have pursued intensive research, planning, and policy aimed at reducing the threat from introduced hoofed animals.

List of sources

DOFAW is the agency charged with protecting Hawai‘i's forests and watersheds:

DOFAW Policy B: Protect and enhance the condition of Hawaii's unique native plant and animal species, and native ecosystems for their inherent value to Hawaii's citizens and for their productive value to science, education, industry and the cultural enrichment of future generations and prevent species extinctions whenever possible. (Source: 2004 DLNR DOFAW report to State Legislature)

DOFAW also administers the State's game program. Without fencing around clearly defined game areas, there is no control over where the animals go. It is therefore impossible for DOFAW to implement Policy B.

• For meaningful protection of watersheds and remaining native species to take place, the state must undertake comprehensive strategic planning and meaningul steps to limit game mammals to appropriate hunting areas. Only then can recovery of the land, water, plants, and animals that game animals have destroyed over past decades begin.
• Hunters would also benefit from a true game management plan, so that hunting opportunities and quality of the hunting experience are maximized in the areas designated for sustained-yield hunting. Right now there is limited access to, and in some cases poor food availability for, animals in the areas where sustained yield is intended.
• All residents can help effect change by insisting on action: implementation of an effective ungulate control plan. Please contact the DOFAW branch manager for your island and ask how residents can get a complete report on what their branch is doing to protect natural areas from game mammals. Hawai‘i is being changed from something rare and beautiful to something very different.

Position paper from the Hawaii Conservation Alliance on feral ungulates (hoofed animals). Alliance partners include UH, DOFAW, USDA, and Kamehameha Schools: HCA Home Page. See also:

Haleakala National Park fencing and USGS on Hawaii's natural history

Conservation Council for Hawai'i Introduced Game Animal Control Campaign

Do you choose this...

Or this?