Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 9, 1 September 1992 — Naturally Hawaiian [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Naturally Hawaiian

by Patrick Ching Artist/environmentalist

Hawaii's state bird — the nene

Unlike other types of geese whieh spend mueh of their Ume in or near ihe water, the Hawaiian goose or nene nas adapted to living on sparsely vegetated volcanic slopes. The feet of the nene have noticeably less webbing than other geese. making them more suited for walking on coarse lava rock terrain.

The Hawaiian name, nene, may have been giving to these birds because of a eall they make while f!ying. The nene fly in a "V" formaUon and utter high, nasal calls, "ney-ney," mueh like the Canadian goose, from whieh scienUsts believe the nene may have evolved. On the ground, the nene may make a muffled "moo" sound especially when disturbed. Some of the food items in the nene's diet are seed, grasses and fruits. The native 'ohelo berry is one of its favorite foods.

In the 1950s, the wild nene populaUon had dwindled to about 30 birds. The fact that the nene are ground nesters and are delicious to eat worked against the species as they

were easily preyed upon by feral animals such as dogs, cats. rats and mongoose. Humans enjoyed the taste of

nene as well and at one Ume, roasted nene was featured on the menu at the Volcano House restaurant on the

island of Hawai'i. ln 1957, capUve breeding program began in Hawai'i and in England. For a while, chickens, muscovy

ducks and even silky bantams were used to help incubate nene eggs and to act as foster mothers for the goslings. These experiments were not verv successful and eventually alternate methods of incubation were used.

In the past 25 years Hawaiian geese have been raised in capuvity and re-introduced into areas where they onee nourished, such as at Mauna Loa and Hualalai volcanos on the island of Hawai'i. CapUve bred nenes have also been introduced on Haleakala volcano on Maui and in lowland areas of Lihu'e and the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Kaua'i.

The recovery of the nene population from near extinction is an inspiring chapter of species preservaUon success in a book otherwise clouded with disappointments.