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.

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HOW CAN INTRODUCED HOOFED ANIMALS BE CONTROLLED?

Officially recognize the problem

Let hunters hunt--deregulate!

Prioritize fencing and control to protect high-value areas.

Create an island-by-island control strategy and adaptable implementation plan.

Begin stepwise implementation as rapidly as possible, to reduce costs and restore watershed function

Nobody wants to hurt animals, but overpopulations of introduced game animals are hurting us. They are recognized around the world as pest animals that cost billions annually in lost crops and environmental damage. How can meaningful and humane invasive animal control be achieved?

Maps of feral pig advancement across the mainland. Look at 1982, then 1988, then 2004.

In Australia, feral pigs have been officially recognized as "a key threat to native Australian wildlife." When Hawai`i finally wakes up and does the same thing, land managers can benefit from research already underway through Australia's National Feral Animal Control Program.

• Trapping is a useful tool, especially in populated areas.
• Fencing is expensive but effective. Control without fences is virtually impossible except with complete eradication.
• Regarding hunting, shooting from helicopters can be effective in inaccessible areas, but "ground shooting is not effective in reducing the pig population unless intense shooting is undertaken on a small isolated and accessible population of pigs." This is why Hawai'i's existing hunting restrictions are pointless and are clearly not science-based.

In Hawai'i, these steps presently break down like this:

• Defining the problem. In Hawai`i this has been done by numerous studies.
• Management plan. In Hawai`i there is no real management plan for control of feral pigs, goats, sheep, and deer on State land. Federal lands such as the national parks however, do have management plans in place, as do some small portions of land in the State's Natural Area Reserve System.
• Implementation. In places such as the national parks that do have a true control plan, feral animal control has been effective. However, when a plan caters to special interests instead of proven methods, it is not effective, as demonstrated by the failure of hunting to eliminate pigs in Halakau Refuge (reported in Environment Hawaii), an important bird sanctuary.
• Monitoring and evaluation. In the few places in Hawaii that have eliminated feral pigs, monitoring has shown that native species begin to recover and thrive. The longer the pigs are in the area, however, the lower the quality or "pristineness" the land can achieve. Once pigs help alien plant species to gain a footing in native areas, the introduced plants may be more difficult to get rid of than the pigs.

Here are a few links to information and news articles about feral animal control in Hawai`i and elsewhere (last updated August 2006).

Winning the War Against Island Invaders

Feral Goat Eradication on Islands

Wildlife fertility control not yet available. 2006. The Wildlife Society

Conservation action in the Galapagos: feral pig (Sus scrofa) eradication from Santiago Island "Given limited conservation funds, we can no longer afford to spend decades removing introduced mammals from islands."

Control Techniques for Feral Hogs. 1997. Texas A&M University.

Sierra Club: Feral Pigs in Hawaii Policy. Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter. 1987.

Closing in on Feral Pigs: Development of a bait that only pigs find attractive. 2004.