09-21-2011, 05:58 PM
Most of the island posters here have brought up a lot of good points.... however...
Some of us on island forget that those on the forum in places like Florida & Texas do not "get" the problem with introducing an animal that is a desired game animal, with NO natural predators, onto this island.
Those off island posters may never have treked in the far reaches of the gulches, nor may they have scrambled over the the remote areas in upper Mauna Loa, Kea or the Kohalas...To a hunter from Florida, elevation is not some thing to think about....and the changes over short distances here just do not exist there.... even a Texan would be hard pressed to find the elevation & temp. changes you would experience in an "normal" hunt day here....
They also may never have seen some of the critical habitat that still has remnants of Hawaii's endemic species. They are not living where there is such a delicate balance of nature.... Their home has a mixture of many different species, their native species do not have the highest rate of extinction in the country....
Maybe if they were here, they would "get it".
But so many of us here have a hard time... the axis deer problem on this island has been investigated for almost half a century, the government almost imported them at the request of the hunters years ago, as they did on other islands...luckily the import did not happen then....and in the interim, the problems of importing these deer was highlighted on other islands....
Hopefully, if they are here, the deer will not consume extensive tracks of critical habitat or agriculturally important lands before they are eradicated...
Unfortunately, there will be a very large cost if they are here, a cost some selfish individuals will have dumped on every tax payer here...
Some of us on island forget that those on the forum in places like Florida & Texas do not "get" the problem with introducing an animal that is a desired game animal, with NO natural predators, onto this island.
Those off island posters may never have treked in the far reaches of the gulches, nor may they have scrambled over the the remote areas in upper Mauna Loa, Kea or the Kohalas...To a hunter from Florida, elevation is not some thing to think about....and the changes over short distances here just do not exist there.... even a Texan would be hard pressed to find the elevation & temp. changes you would experience in an "normal" hunt day here....
They also may never have seen some of the critical habitat that still has remnants of Hawaii's endemic species. They are not living where there is such a delicate balance of nature.... Their home has a mixture of many different species, their native species do not have the highest rate of extinction in the country....
Maybe if they were here, they would "get it".
But so many of us here have a hard time... the axis deer problem on this island has been investigated for almost half a century, the government almost imported them at the request of the hunters years ago, as they did on other islands...luckily the import did not happen then....and in the interim, the problems of importing these deer was highlighted on other islands....
Hopefully, if they are here, the deer will not consume extensive tracks of critical habitat or agriculturally important lands before they are eradicated...
Unfortunately, there will be a very large cost if they are here, a cost some selfish individuals will have dumped on every tax payer here...