Threat of Axis Deer on the Big Island

[rainyjim]

I think this will be a simple fix. We stop all helicopter (tourist and green harvest + whatever else they do) activity and reroute them to search out the axis for eradication I can only imagine how many birds we would hit with just that one stone.

Cheers

rainyjim

[Wuzzerdad]

Kill them as fast as you can before you get as man[!]y as 120 a square mile as we have here in Iowa.

I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
Mahalo
Rick

[Forester]

I was wondering if there was any update on this situation? It's been a year since the last post -- are axis deer more or less established on the Big Island now?

Also -- and before you yell at me, please know that I realize that everyone in Hawaii probably thinks this is dumb -- has the introduction of a predator been considered? It seems like the window for the eradication of ungulates (or other invasive herbivores) passed 100 years ago; wouldn't the introduction of coyotes (or something similar) actually help protect plant life and agriculture? Or is the potential cost to native animal life too great?

[csgray]

Ranchers and livestock owners would have a fit, plus the Nene are not hardwired to anticipate predators, so the wildlife biologists would be opposed too. Man, dogs and cats are the only predators we are going to have in the foreseeable future.

Carol

[Carey]

Last summer a fourth Axis deer was killed by hunters in Kau:
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections...-deer.html
http://westhawaiitoday.com/sections/news...sland.html
http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/files/2013/0...Report.pdf

Your latter guess was spot on...Introduction of a predator (other than the humans already here) would be devastating to the native bird still existing at elevation.

[kalakoa]

Invasive species aren't a problem unless they're on Oahu.

[Chunkster]

quote:

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Originally posted by kalakoa

Invasive species aren't a problem unless they're on Oahu.

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Now that's putting the plain truth out there. Thanks.

[kalakoa]

At the risk of repeating myself: people are going hungry while the invasive meat animals destroy the ecosystem, meanwhile there's some bored "good ol'boys" who would gladly hunt for fun.

So... all we need now is to spend several hundred grand of taxpayer money on a "study" to figure out how to put these things together into some kind of solution.

[seventhreads]

i lived in rural maui for a year and never once saw a deer...maybe i was on the wrong side of the island?

you know, so much stuff gets hyped up and blown way out of proportion on this forum. invasive species? really? what exactly does "invasive species" mean to you? without a doubt the most invasive, destructive species on this planet is the modern human. what nerve to classify another animal as invasive and bad for the environment. deer do not dump 50k gallons of molasses in the ocean, or pollute the environment in any way. and they also don't genetically alter food crops.

i also lived in the california mountains for years. yes there are a lot of deer. yes they will eat your vegetables. but they are also beautiful and i loved having them around even though it meant fencing my garden off. not a big deal. you adapt. i must say i had more respect for deer before moving to the mountains. now i know they are kind of dumb and aloof. but it's endearing, not a reason to kill them.

i understand that people want to keep all "invasive" species off of hawaii to save the ecosystem. but the truth is the current ecosystem is nothing like what it once was. europeans and asians brought thousands of new species of plants and other life here, as did the hawaiians when they first came. it is constantly changing. most places on earth are. nature will balance itself. if you are really that concerned about it, how about eradicating humans? there is no other species having even a miniscule fraction of the effect on the ecosystem here as humans are. no one can deny that.

leave the deer alone.


snakes on the other hand.....

[hereandthere]

There are hunting families here that would gladly kill dear for food and enough to feed their families year round and their relatives too. That will never happen though. The state will spend another $100,000.00 to a helicopter eradication team that will kill 3 in 6 months and say our tax dollars were well spent. There are areas where short range shotgun slug would not endanger people or livestock. But again that will never happen. The state will spend another couple hundred thousand on studies. And say it was money well spent. Public officials don't want weapons in Hawaii. Try get some here and you will know. The rules about carrying them, the specifics on where you can hunt, how you hunt, who you have to report to and on and on so that hunting here is a freaking drag. Get on utube and put in axis deer on big island the videos will astound you... Hawaii officials don't want to feed the people they want to bring more tourists and haoles here to make money to do more studies and pay more helicopters. Get it its a vicious cycle of procrastination that has no benefit to the people of Hawaii. Im tired.