Big Island of Hawaii---Wildlife science vs. politicians

[Deleted member 31469]

Mouflon sheep were introduced to the Big Island many, many years ago. They are an important part of native Hawaiian diet and culture. They are also fantastic game animals, like hunting bighorn sheep above timberline. A decade ago, the palila bird, native to Hawaii, began to experience a decline in population and was designated as endangered. It was thought that the sheep were eating the mamane tree. The palila eats mamane seeds and nests in the branches. Problem solved. Earth Justice sued in federal court and the court ordered the state of Hawaii to eradicate the sheep. That began 7 or 8 years ago. Every couple of months the helicopters would fly and shooters would blast all the sheep, killing hundreds in a morning. Ten years ago I'd get at least one sheep on every hunt, usually at 8000+ feet. 5 years ago they were gone. So, did the palila come back? No. The population continued to decline. A major university study was conducted and after a few years of research, here was their conclusion: The palila bird population is dropping because of drought, virus, mongooses, and most importantly, feral cats. The sheep have virtually no impact on the palila. Furthermore, the sheep eradication has enabled grass, which the sheep kept trimmed, to grow thigh-high everywhere and since the area is basically a desert, the chance of catastrophic wildfire is almost a certainty. That would wipe out all the palila. So did Earth Justice back off? No. I spoke with one of their people and he acknowledged that the sheep weren't the problem and that cats are [feral cat population on the Big Island is well over 100,000] but that so many of the Earth Justice members are cat lovers that there is no way they can go after the cats. So now the sheep are almost entirely gone, the dry grass is everywhere, and the palila is almost extinct. The sheep eradication continues and the scientific research study is completely ignored.

The politicians say that the slaughtered sheep are being salvaged by Hawaiians and used for food. Oh, really? The sheep shooting takes place in the morning of two consecutive days. On the third day, a list of GPS coordinates is provided [or some other method of location] so people can go pick up the carcasses. It's hot up there, often 80+ degrees, and these sheep have been lying in the sun for 48 hours. I've never met anyone who has salvaged those bloated sheep.

Really pisses a guy off.

 

[Deleted member 31469]

Here are a few more examples of politicians completely ignoring the wildlife scientists:

1. Rats are a problem on the Big Island and came over a long time ago on ships. The politicos determined that in India, mongooses eat rats so they imported a bunch of mongooses and turned them loose. The mongooses now number in the 100's of thousands, like ground squirrels in So Cal, and dine primarily on native birds. Problem is that the rats are nocturnal and the mongooses are diurnal so at sunset the rats come down out of the trees and wave at the mongooses that are heading back into their holes. The rat population and the mongoose population has exploded and the native bird population has plummeted.

2. Fountain grass was imported from Ethiopia and planted on the Big Island as a food source for cattle, which is a huge industry in the drier parts of the island. It looks a lot like the pampas grass in So Cal. Problem is that cattle hate it. Makes them sick. The fountain grass also has huge root systems that go down 18 inches into hard, rocky soil. You need to dig out each plant. There are now hundreds of square miles of fountain grass and it has completely replaced the native grasses.

3. A lady from England convinced the mayor [after making a sizeable campaign contribution] that the bush called gorse, used in England as a barrier to keep cattle in, would be perfect as a natural barrier to keep cattle confined on the Big Island. It was brought in and 50 years later it has spread on the east slopes of Mauna Kea [prime palila country] and has replaced the mamane tree and other native vegetation. It is horrible. Full of thorns, 10 feet high, so thick that nothing, not even pigs, can get through it. So the politicians decided to spray it with herbicides from helicopters. The rains came and washed all the poisons down in the seasonal streams and ruined everything downstream. The gorse died back to the roots and came back a year later. It now covers 100 square miles and is spreading.

4. The Sierra Club and Earth Justice and others sued to remove all non-native mammals from the Big Island and they won a partial victory. [The only native mammal is one species of bat.] Rats are a problem. So, against the wishes of wildlife scientists, they dropped little poison packets from the air onto several public hunting areas. These were low dose but had enough poison to kill the rats. Problem is that pigs eat the dead rats and Hawaiians eat the pigs. Solution? Stop hunting pigs, even though they are a HUGE part of the Native Hawaiian diet.

The Hawaiians hate these conservation groups because hunting IS the Hawaiian lifestyle. They brought pigs over on their voyaging canoes centuries ago as a source of food on an island that had no mammals and the pigs [and sheep and goats] thrived, providing Hawaiians with a natural, healthy source of meat. Earth Justice tells them to buy their meat at Costco, just like everyone else in the "Civilized World".

 

[ilovesprig]

Doc,

Welcome to the same philosophy here in Commiefornia...Our DFW is over run with political hacks, tree huggers, and libs...They would eliminate hunting & fishing in heartbeat, if they could...And trust me, they're trying.

 

[slinky_70]

Reminds me of why the lead ban was initiated to protect the condors

 

[DanSanDiego]

Reminds me of why the lead ban was initiated to protect the condors

And the worst part is that to this day the ban on lead to protect the condor is presented as a big win/success. Even though it is the opposite of a success. The no-need-for-facts dems (aka Sierra club) bring it up every chance they get and say, “we’ll save _______ just like we saved the condor.” smh

 

[slinky_70]

And the worst part is that to this day the ban on lead to protect the condor is presented as a big win/success. Even though it is the opposite of a success. The no-need-for-facts dems (aka Sierra club) bring it up every chance they get and say, “we’ll save _______ just like we saved the condor.” smh

Ya there was no science to prove that lead came from ammunition. In fact after the fact it was determined that the lead probably came from the local trash dump as a condor is just a scavenger. The anti's will never admit to failure

 

[Bowman]

Simply put lead ban is one step closer to stop hunting . Ruse that it is harmful to the environment.

On the island can't have the free people hunting their food. They can't make money that way they want every one buying their GMO crap

 

[ilovesprig]

Ya there was no science to prove that lead came from ammunition. In fact after the fact it was determined that the lead probably came from the local trash dump as a condor is just a scavenger. The anti's will never admit to failure

Just like they won't admit they voted for O'Biden........

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Mouflon sheep were introduced to the Big Island many, many years ago. They are an important part of native Hawaiian diet and culture. They are also fantastic game animals, like hunting bighorn sheep above timberline. A decade ago, the palila bird, native to Hawaii, began to experience a decline in population and was designated as endangered. It was thought that the sheep were eating the mamane tree. The palila eats mamane seeds and nests in the branches. Problem solved. Earth Justice sued in federal court and the court ordered the state of Hawaii to eradicate the sheep. That began 7 or 8 years ago. Every couple of months the helicopters would fly and shooters would blast all the sheep, killing hundreds in a morning. Ten years ago I'd get at least one sheep on every hunt, usually at 8000+ feet. 5 years ago they were gone. So, did the palila come back? No. The population continued to decline. A major university study was conducted and after a few years of research, here was their conclusion: The palila bird population is dropping because of drought, virus, mongooses, and most importantly, feral cats. The sheep have virtually no impact on the palila. Furthermore, the sheep eradication has enabled grass, which the sheep kept trimmed, to grow thigh-high everywhere and since the area is basically a desert, the chance of catastrophic wildfire is almost a certainty. That would wipe out all the palila. So did Earth Justice back off? No. I spoke with one of their people and he acknowledged that the sheep weren't the problem and that cats are [feral cat population on the Big Island is well over 100,000] but that so many of the Earth Justice members are cat lovers that there is no way they can go after the cats. So now the sheep are almost entirely gone, the dry grass is everywhere, and the palila is almost extinct. The sheep eradication continues and the scientific research study is completely ignored.

The politicians say that the slaughtered sheep are being salvaged by Hawaiians and used for food. Oh, really? The sheep shooting takes place in the morning of two consecutive days. On the third day, a list of GPS coordinates is provided [or some other method of location] so people can go pick up the carcasses. It's hot up there, often 80+ degrees, and these sheep have been lying in the sun for 48 hours. I've never met anyone who has salvaged those bloated sheep.

Really pisses a guy off.

Really sad to see the helicopter annihilation of the sheep and goats on Mauna Kea. There's still donkeys though.. had some good smoke donkey meat lol.

The Hawaii DLNR is a do-nothing organization. I was in Keaukaha for the past 2 weeks and saw them drive into Kings Landing and do nothing but drive in and out probably checking nobody's nets or buckets.