Nene mother may have been maliciously killed
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
WAILUKU, Maui — Conservation enforcement officials have launched an investigation into whether someone intentionally ran over and killed a mother nene and one of her goslings.
The dead birds were discovered last week within five feet of each other on a cane haul road above Lahaina.
The male gosling had a visible tire track on it and the mother Hawaiian goose, nicknamed the "Lahaina mom," also appeared to have been struck.
"It looked like it could have been intentional," said Fern Duvall, state wildlife biologist.
The case has been turned over to investigators with the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.
Reports have also been sent to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service because the incident involved an endangered species.
Under the federal Endangered Species Act, such violations carry a fine of up to $50,000 and/or a year in jail.
The mother goose was part of a flock known to wildlife officials as the "nene of Lahainaluna," because they were known to visit an aquaculture pond above the high school and occasionally made their way to the campus.
The mother, known by her identification band as BZ, was one of only two female nene to have produced young in West Maui, officials said.
A survey of West Maui nene, conducted annually by state Division of Forestry and Wildlife officials along with biologists at Haleakala National Park, was scheduled for yesterday and today.
It is estimated that more than 800 nene are found in the wild in Hawai'i. While most of the 250 or so Maui birds live at the summit of Haleakala, officials have released captive-raised nene in West Maui since 1994 in an effort to expand the population into new areas. The West Maui population is estimated at about 60.
BZ was the second high-profile nene to have been killed on Maui this year. In January, a mother goose at the national park — identified as IV — was killed by a vehicle. The goose's 3-week-old gosling was never seen again, biologists said.
