Posted on: Saturday, August 25, 2001

Groups urge Maui County to control axis deer

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

KAHULUI, Maui — A coalition of public and private agencies is calling on Maui County to take measures to contain the island's axis deer before a population explosion leads to greater safety, economic and environmental impacts.

"The longer Maui waits to act, the more difficult and costly it is going to be to solve this problem,'' said Steven B. Anderson, a wildlife biologist hired by the Maui Axis Deer Group to study the population.

The group will hold a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Kihei Community Center where Anderson will present his research findings and review the threats to health and safety, agriculture, native forests and watersheds.

Anderson, a wildlife biologist with the University of California at Davis, said the deer have spread throughout the island, from Hana to Kapalua.

Their numbers have increased from just nine in 1960, when they were introduced to the island for game hunting, to thousands today.

The deer count is doubling every four years, Anderson said.

"In less than 10 years, I expect Maui to have as many as 15,000 deer. This would quadruple the current deer-vehicle collision rate as well as the crop damage,'' he said.

Anderson said deer-vehicle collisions on Maui are on the rise. Thirty-six collisions were reported during an 18-month period ending April 2000, and many others went unreported, he said. More recent figures were not available.