Threat of Axis Deer on the Big Island

[csgray]

That would be a myth, during Kalanikupule's time there were no deer in Hawaii. Until well into the reign of King Kamehameha the only mammals here other than the monk seal and Hawaiian bat were brought by the Tahitians who settled Hawaii in their voyaging canoes. They brought little pigs much like the pot bellied type, and dogs, but no deer. Cattle and Russian boars came in King Kamehameha's time, at some point after that people brought domestic pigs, mountain goats, and eventually the axis deer, but in Kalanikupule's time the Hawaiians were not hunting land mammals. They also never hunted whales or other sea mammals, even though many other similar cultures like the native Alaskans did.

Carol