Nēnē Hazing Pilot Project to Be Introduced on Kaua‘i

Officials will introduce their new canine teams and discuss the implementation of a pilot project to nonlethally haze nēnē away from the Hōkūala Timbers Resort, Aug. 2019. Courtesy photo

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services Hawai‘i program (WS-Hawai‘i) will host a media event at the Hōkūala Timbers Resort on Aug. 20, 2019, at 9:30 a.m. to introduce their new canine teams and discuss the implementation of a pilot project to nonlethally haze nēnē away from the resort area.

Wildlife Services, along with the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of
Transportation Airports Division, and Hōkūala Resort, are working together to protect the flying public
utilizing the Līhu‘e Airport (LIH) while also ensuring the protection of Hawai‘i’s state bird, the federally
and state listed as endangered native Hawaiian goose or nēnē.

WS-Hawai‘i is conducting a one-year pilot project during the 2018-19 breeding season to minimize/prevent nesting of nēnē at the Hōkūala Timbers Resort.

The pilot project will involve continuous nonlethal hazing of the birds by two border collies and their handlers as well as WS-Hawa‘i employees utilizing golf carts, walking, running or using handheld flags or flashlights.

Līhu‘e Airport is located adjacent and north of the resort and the airport provides passenger and aircraft facilities for domestic overseas carriers, interisland carriers, commuter air taxi, air cargo and general aviation activities, with well over 100,000 aircraft operations a year.

Wildlife Services is currently conducting hazing operations on LIH property.

Airplanes and wildlife don’t mix. Over $700 million dollars annually is lost due to wildlife strikes with
civil aircraft in the United States alone. Although flying remains a very safe way to travel, wildlife strikes have caused death and injuries and is nearly always fatal for the animals.

To find out more information about this event, call (808) 838-2840.