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FERAL
PIGS AND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HAWAI‘I’S NATIVE BIRDS |
| A pristine Hawaiian forest is a difficult place for the mosquitoes that carry avian malaria to live. A Hawaiian forest with introduced pigs in it is a great place for the mosquitoes--and a deadly place for the birds. |
Advocates of unrestricted range for feral pigs say that the pigs have nothing to do with the spread of avian malaria to the higher elevations where Hawai‘i’s native birds are making a last stand. Their argument is that the puddles created by pig rooting and wallowing are just more water in areas that are already filled with standing water. Here's what the biologists who have studied this issue have to say:
Pristine Hawaiian rain forests had little in the way of sites for Culex mosquitoes to breed. Culex is a tropical mosquito and evolved with mankind as a “cup” breeder, that is, it needs still, warm, nutrient-rich, small “cups” or puddles to breed in. The pristine forests in Hawai‘i had very few of these. Culex can't breed in running streams or ponds or any clean clear water. Pigs create lots of breeding sites in creating their wallows and especially when they hollow or “trough” hapu‘u, which fill with rain water, thus creating hundreds of breeding sites per acre. Pig fecal matter fouls the wallows, creating perfect Culex breeding sites. These many breeding sites have allowed these mosquitoes to adapt to higher and higher elevations, carrying the malaria and pox with them. Also, when the pigs dig for worms and roots, they cause erosion where rainfall is heavy, causing the siltation of streams and eventually siltation of the reefs. So, not only are they destroying the forest but also stream ecosystems and Hawai‘i’s reef ecosystems. Hawai‘i’s natural environment would be healthier without feral pigs.
Links (more links coming soon, along with more info for this page):
Wildlife health This page from the USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center has several links to info about avian diseases affecting Hawai‘i’s forest birds.
Hawai‘i’s endemic birds by James D. Jacobi and Carter T. Atkinson
Hawai‘i’s extinct species -- birds Bishop Museum
Hawai‘i’s endangered species -- birds Bishop Museum
DOFAW’s forest bird page See the Projects link at the bottom of the page. Protecting forest birds requires removing feral ungulates from their habitat. Let’s all pitch in to help DOFAW get the money and the political support for ungulate control. If we leave it up to the silent majority, the birds are doomed to extinction.
