02-23-2007, 06:28 PM
This is regarding the exponential increase in the pig population. I spoke with DLNR's Forestry and Wildlife Dept. the other day and they said the squicky wheel is what it takes, so...help out if you wish and write to DLNR's Chairperson, Peter Young and your State Senators and Representatives.
Copy of a letter written to Dept. of Land and Natural Resources:
Aloha Mr. Young,
I was on Saddle Road the other day, going for a hike in several kipuka in the reserves up there, and noticed that in many places the understory of Hawaiian native plants was completely gone and replaced by pig wallows. Just a few years ago, the understory was fairly intact. I came back home, looked on DLNR’s website and went to the hunting information and regulations page. I was shocked. Why is there a limit on the number of pigs (or goats, sheep or deer for that matter) that a hunter can bag? I would have to assume that it is not to protect the populations of these animals. Maybe that made sense long ago, but not now. The forest needs all the help it can get.
I hope DLNR is aware that on the Big Island the pig population has grown exponentially. They are all over Paradise Park, a large subdivision south of Hilo. We live further south of there and we have to protect our gardens with hog wire. Our neighbor has killed 30 pigs on his 3 1/2 acre property just since the beginning of the year. They tear up everything. They can be seen trotting in herds down our roads. I have even seen pigs standing around next to the airport road in Hilo. I just spoke with someone in DOFAW’s Hilo office who said that he has been getting complaints about pigs from people in the mauka parts of Hilo.
These are human complaints, but the impact of so many ungulates to the Hawaiian native forest is devastating, as I am sure you know. Maybe it is worth a trip to a few of the kipuka up Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Hilo side, so you can see for yourself that there should be no restrictions on hunting these animals. Weren’t about 200,000 sheep killed off recently in a concerted effort to rid Mauna Kea of them? Why not do the same with pigs where they are ripping up the understory of what was once common, but becoming rare Native Hawaiian plants?
DLNR’s own rules in §13-123-9 Nuisance or crop damage state:
(a) The board or its authorized representative, upon receipt of written notice of nuisance or damage to crops, vegetative habitat, or native plants by game mammals, shall initiate an investigation of the damage or nuisance and based on the investigation, may issue a permit or permits authorizing the destruction or control of game mammals responsible for the damage or nuisance.
(b) The method of destruction or control shall be stated on the permit together with any other terms and conditions the board or its authorized representative may deem proper and applicable.
My neighbors and I agree that pigs are a cost effective, good source of protein, but some are too diseased to want to eat. Overpopulation of pigs is more likely to make lepto, brucellosis, etc. more common. Now there is the new invasive semi-slug that is all over everything and carries angiostrongylus cantonensis, a nematode that gives people meningitis (I assume pigs can get that too). I really think that an overpopulation of wild pigs is not only an issue involving native Hawaiian plant and animal species, but of human and farm animal health as well. Wild pig overpopulation is becoming a worldwide problem, as I am sure you must know.
This is a huge problem and unless addressed, soon there will be nothing left of Hawaiian forest plants but in a small number of fenced areas. I am all for pig hunting, but realize the “pig hunter lobby” has had much influence in the past. It has promoted a destructive practice to “protect” pig hunters by having bag limits, not fencing significant areas and not trying to control the wild pig population. Fact is, all you have to do is sit in a favorite chair on your lanai while sipping a cool beverage, and pick off pigs from a herd going by in your own subdivision. No need for going up the mountain anymore. Freezers are full. Hunting is not in danger. Native Hawaiian plants and animals are in danger. Very probably if this exponential trend continues, human health is in danger as well.
Copy of a letter written to Dept. of Land and Natural Resources:
Aloha Mr. Young,
I was on Saddle Road the other day, going for a hike in several kipuka in the reserves up there, and noticed that in many places the understory of Hawaiian native plants was completely gone and replaced by pig wallows. Just a few years ago, the understory was fairly intact. I came back home, looked on DLNR’s website and went to the hunting information and regulations page. I was shocked. Why is there a limit on the number of pigs (or goats, sheep or deer for that matter) that a hunter can bag? I would have to assume that it is not to protect the populations of these animals. Maybe that made sense long ago, but not now. The forest needs all the help it can get.
I hope DLNR is aware that on the Big Island the pig population has grown exponentially. They are all over Paradise Park, a large subdivision south of Hilo. We live further south of there and we have to protect our gardens with hog wire. Our neighbor has killed 30 pigs on his 3 1/2 acre property just since the beginning of the year. They tear up everything. They can be seen trotting in herds down our roads. I have even seen pigs standing around next to the airport road in Hilo. I just spoke with someone in DOFAW’s Hilo office who said that he has been getting complaints about pigs from people in the mauka parts of Hilo.
These are human complaints, but the impact of so many ungulates to the Hawaiian native forest is devastating, as I am sure you know. Maybe it is worth a trip to a few of the kipuka up Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Hilo side, so you can see for yourself that there should be no restrictions on hunting these animals. Weren’t about 200,000 sheep killed off recently in a concerted effort to rid Mauna Kea of them? Why not do the same with pigs where they are ripping up the understory of what was once common, but becoming rare Native Hawaiian plants?
DLNR’s own rules in §13-123-9 Nuisance or crop damage state:
(a) The board or its authorized representative, upon receipt of written notice of nuisance or damage to crops, vegetative habitat, or native plants by game mammals, shall initiate an investigation of the damage or nuisance and based on the investigation, may issue a permit or permits authorizing the destruction or control of game mammals responsible for the damage or nuisance.
(b) The method of destruction or control shall be stated on the permit together with any other terms and conditions the board or its authorized representative may deem proper and applicable.
My neighbors and I agree that pigs are a cost effective, good source of protein, but some are too diseased to want to eat. Overpopulation of pigs is more likely to make lepto, brucellosis, etc. more common. Now there is the new invasive semi-slug that is all over everything and carries angiostrongylus cantonensis, a nematode that gives people meningitis (I assume pigs can get that too). I really think that an overpopulation of wild pigs is not only an issue involving native Hawaiian plant and animal species, but of human and farm animal health as well. Wild pig overpopulation is becoming a worldwide problem, as I am sure you must know.
This is a huge problem and unless addressed, soon there will be nothing left of Hawaiian forest plants but in a small number of fenced areas. I am all for pig hunting, but realize the “pig hunter lobby” has had much influence in the past. It has promoted a destructive practice to “protect” pig hunters by having bag limits, not fencing significant areas and not trying to control the wild pig population. Fact is, all you have to do is sit in a favorite chair on your lanai while sipping a cool beverage, and pick off pigs from a herd going by in your own subdivision. No need for going up the mountain anymore. Freezers are full. Hunting is not in danger. Native Hawaiian plants and animals are in danger. Very probably if this exponential trend continues, human health is in danger as well.