Feral cats are not the biggest threat to nene
Once again, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is trying to scapegoat feral cats in the deaths of endangered animals by supplying only partial information and implying things that mislead the public.
In an exhaustive study spanning 22 years and examining 300 nene carcasses, the true causes of deaths in nene were found to be something quite different.
In “Mortality Patterns in Endangered Hawaiian Geese,” published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases in 2015, the number one cause of death in nene was found to be starvation, particularly on Hawaii Island. The number two cause of death is trauma, which includes strikes by cars, shootings and predation by animals such as dogs, mongoose and, occasionally, cats.
These two causes comprise half of all the deaths studied.
The third cause is inflammation, or infection, which includes toxoplasmosis along with about 20 other pathogens. Overall, of all the dead nene studied, about 4% were killed by toxoplasmosis. Not 4% of all nene, just 4% of those that died.
The gosling the tragically died in Lili‘uokalani Park was emaciated and had blood and abrasions on its beak. Yes, it also had evidence of toxoplasmosis in its body, but that was not definitively proven to have killed it.
Wouldn’t it make more sense for DLNR to focus its efforts on the issues that cause 50% of the deaths of endangered nene, rather than hype up fury at cats that contribute to 4%? Since habitat loss is caused by humans, perhaps DLNR should investigate the practicality of feeding stations so the birds are not starving to death.
The park maintenance could leave patches of uncut grasses, even propagate healthy ones, for the geese to graze on. (Nene, by the way, are herbivores. They don’t want to eat cat food!). Have more substantial signage, speed bumps, speed limits in the areas where nene are habitually hit.
The good news in all this is that the species is actually rebounding, not declining, so efforts are paying off. There is no urgent crisis to kill all the cats before the nene go extinct.
If everyone would calm down and look at the facts, all the facts, we could work together to support the nene population and still allow the cats, and their feeders, to coexist.
Elaine Partlow
Pahoa
Use state drug award to bolster emergency flights
Gov. Josh Green: How are you planning to use the $916 million awarded to the state because of ineffective blood thinners purchased to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke? The May 22 article mentions there is no determination how many people have died from the ineffective drugs received.
I’ve got a suggestion on how to spend some of that award money that will have a positive affect on those with heart disease and stroke. Use that money to invest in getting more flight crews for Hawaii Life Flight services within the state, especially transfers from the neighbor islands to Oahu.
Hilo Benioff Medical Center states the average response time for stroke patients to be treated at the emergency room in Hilo, then get picked up by the next available flight crew, is 4.5 hours which includes waiting for availability of a flight crew but not the one-hour transport time.
Stroke preventive messages stress the need to “be fast.” The quicker a person with stroke symptoms is treated, the lesser the damage to their brain.
The delay in getting planes to the neighbor islands contradicts this message. Gov. Green, use that money to have dedicated planes for each island to avoid waiting for one crew that is responsible for an entire state in an emergency.
If Maui can have a dedicated crew, why not the rest of the neighbor islands?
Cynthia Honma
Hilo