Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 4, 1 April 2016 — More Kauaʻi nēnē goslings under attack this year [ARTICLE]

More Kauaʻi nēnē goslings under attack this year

Kaua'i residents ean help protect the nēnē goose during nesting season by keeping their dogs and cats indoors, leashed, in a kennel or a fenced yard. Hawai'i's native goose typically breeds from September through April and their goslings are flightless for the first two or three months oflife. This breeding season, reports of loose dogs and cats hunting nēnē have been on the rise. Four were found dead on the side of Kīlauea Road on Feb. 10 with signs they had been attacked by dogs. Three more have been found dead since, and one more was found in serious condition and later succumbed to injuries that appeared to have been caused by a dog, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Kaua'i National Wildlife

Refuge Complex. "We are asking the loeal eommunity and visitors to the island to be extra vigilant from January to midMay, while the nēnē are tending to their flightless goslings, as well as molting," said Heather Tonneson, the new Refuge Manager at Kllauea.