Kona's wild donkeys subject to adoption

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

The wild donkeys that roam the barren lava lands of North Kona appear to be headed for a last roundup.

About three dozen donkeys descended from "Kona Nightingales" face capture and removal from the wild. Advertiser library photo

The previous plan — to save the herd by creating a large fenced pasture on the mauka side of Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway — was dropped because of concerns about liability, Duerr said.

Duerr, general manager of the Kona Village Resort, said the decision to put individual donkeys up for adoption was made by the long-term leaseholders who control the land where the herd primarily lives. The leaseholders were also the ones who were teaming up to create and maintain the paddock.

The adoption plan emerged after legal advice indicated that the leaseholders could be held liable if a donkey escaped from the paddock and caused a traffic accident, Duerr said.

Details regarding when a roundup would occur and how the donkeys would be distributed are unclear. Neither Roger Harris of PIA Kona Limited Partnership, on whose land the paddock was to be constructed, nor state wildlife biologist Miles Nakahara, an adviser to the Donkey Committee, could be reached to comment on the plan.

Duerr said he's disappointed that he and others won't be able to keep tabs on the donkeys that wander up and down the rocky North Kona terrain above the coastal resorts at Ka'upulehu.

"It would be nice if the donkeys could be accommodated so the last wild herd could remain wild," he said.

But he also understands the liability issue. It was the same thing cited by the state Department of Transportation in turning down a Donkey Committee proposal to erect fencing along the highway.

"No government agency wants to take responsibility," he said. "We tried our best. We couldn't continue to let them roam. It's too dangerous."

A fatal accident on Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway five months ago was a reminder of the danger that exists for both the donkeys and motorists. A 29-year-old Puna man died Sept. 18 of injuries he suffered when his motorcycle struck and killed a wild donkey near the Hualalai Resort.

At least one other traffic fatality has been linked to the herd, and many more donkeys have lost their lives in collisions with vehicles over the years.

Former beasts of burden

The herd's legacy dates to the genesis of the Kona coffee plantations, when donkeys were imported to help haul the harvest from the highlands to the seaport over rugged and steep terrain. Every evening, the donkeys brayed from farm to farm, earning them the "Kona Nightingales" nickname.

After World War II, the farmers began using military jeeps to haul their bags of coffee beans. Many of the donkeys were released into the scrublands on the side of the Hualalai volcano.

A half-century later, the only remaining wild herd grazes near the Hualalai Resort, the Four Seasons and Kona Village Resort on land that is being rapidly developed, a situation that is squeezing the donkeys out of their habitat.

Peggy Sankot, a Kona Village massage therapist and an original member of the Donkey Committee, said she has become increasingly frustrated by the panel's inability to accomplish its goal of preserving the wild donkeys, and she's unhappy a compromise couldn't be reached to keep the herd intact.

"I'm very disappointed. I'm numbed out," Sankot said.

Bob Lindsey, who manages Kamehameha Schools' agricultural and conservation lands on the Big Island, said he searched for an area where the animals could be moved — and found it at a ranch in Ka'u that was a Kamehameha lessee. But, he said, the move was frowned upon because it's outside of their traditional range.

Kamehameha Schools had agreed to take a half-dozen or so animals to a location in South Kona, according to Lindsey.

Duerr said most of the donkeys likely will end up being adopted by residents in the Kona region. He said he can volunteer a list of more than enough names to adopt the animals out.

Probable retirement

When the adoption takes place, he said, it will mean the donkeys will have gone full circle — from domesticated to the wild and back — although instead of being beasts of burden, they likely will be in retirement.

Duerr, who has worked at the Kona Village Resort for 37 years, said he'll probably call one last meeting of the Donkey Committee and then dissolve it — unless members want to get involved in finding new homes for the animals.

"I don't want to be part of the roundup," Duerr said. "I've been seeing them wild too long.

"I want to remember the donkeys walking over the lava flows. You could almost set your watch to where they would be at a certain time of the day."

Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.