Makaha faces peacock dilemma

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

Hawai'i's love affair with the peacock dates to the days when the colorful creatures were the darlings of Hawaiian royalty.

A peacock strolls the grounds of the Makaha Plantation. Makaha Valley Towers has drawn criticism for its efforts to control the population of wild peacocks on its property. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

At the Makaha Valley Towers high rise, the board of directors recently signed a $4,000 contract with the federal government to capture and kill up to three-quarters of the estimated five or six dozen wild peacocks that inhabit the property.

The complaint: The peacocks have become a nuisance, from the loud cries that the males make during mating season to the droppings the birds leave behind.

The plan, temporarily on hold after an outcry after some residents found out about it, is the first feral peacock removal project of its kind in the state, according to the USDA's Wildlife Services agency in Hawai'i. A similar project is in the discussion stages at the Makaha Valley Plantation resident town houses next to the Towers.

Introduced to Hawai'i around 1860, peacocks have flourished in Makaha Valley since King Kamehameha V gave a flock to valley rancher Owen Jones Holt. Princess Ka'iulani, heir to the throne — affectionately known as "The Princess of the Peacocks" — kept the exotic birds at 'Ainahau, the family's 10-acre Waikiki garden estate.

Today, the peacock is the official logo for the Makaha Resort Golf Club, less than half a mile from the high rise.

"Peacocks are wonderful," resort desk clerk Justyne Worsham told a visitor last week. "And when the males open their tail feathers, it's really beautiful."

When word of the eradication plan reached Makaha Valley Towers residents, those who consider peacocks an important component of Makaha's heritage voiced strong opposition.

"I was so upset I cried when I heard about it," said resident Janet Powell. "For those of us who love the country, we love the peacocks. But there's an element out here that doesn't like the peacocks and wants them destroyed.

"Well, these birds were here before they moved in."

Last month, following the backlash, the Towers board temporarily tabled the peacock project.

The idea, said association president Ted Pond, was to "thin out" the population, which he estimates to be more than five dozen birds at the Towers.

"That was the plan," Pond said. "But we put our program on hold because the people who are against this signed letters to the board that represented 65 different owners out of 586."

Pond, who said he merely wants to accommodate the wishes of a majority of the home owners, said the next move is to survey all owners about the issue. Because 60 percent live elsewhere, the process could take several months, he said.

"We'll wait and see what the majority wants," Pond said.

Towers unit owner Robert Krohne said the issue has separated residents into three general categories: Those who think the turkey-sized birds are pests and want their population managed; those who are fond of the peacocks and want them left alone; and those who are peacock-neutral.

Krohne includes himself in the peacock-neutral category, but admits to pro-peacock leanings.

"Some people say they're noisy, but it's seasonal," said Krohne as he stood on the lawn near the Towers' swimming pool. "By mid-May there won't be a squawk out of any of the males."

As Krohne spoke, peacock mating calls echoed through the canyon. A nearby peahen pecked at the ground, oblivious to the impressive plumage of a passing peacock several yards away.

Krohne's wife, Colletta, sees things differently than her husband.

"Something has to be done," she said. "I'd like to see them thinned out. They're out of control. It's an ongoing nuisance. Last night we had a pupu party by the pool and two big peacocks were bothering everyone and wouldn't go away."

She said some residents can't sleep at night because of the noise, and one woman even moved away because of the mess and the racket.

Reactions to the birds at the Makaha Valley Plantation has been similar to those at the Towers.

"There are a lot of peacocks who strut their stuff over here," said Otis King, general manager of the Plantation. "These peacocks go right up the residents' stairways, believe it or not. They make themselves right at home."

King, who hasn't entered into any agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services division, said he isn't sure how many peacocks the Plantation has because the birds migrate back and forth between the Towers and the Plantation. But he has seen as many as 14 peacocks together at one time on the property.

King said some residents have complained about the loud cries the males make during mating season. Others have squawked about car damage from broken branches and bird droppings caused by tree-roosting peacocks.

"The problem is twofold," said Mark Ono, district supervisor for Wildlife Services' Hawai'i program. "These big cocks cry throughout the night when it's mating season, and they are keeping the residents awake.

"The second problem is that the birds are defecating on the cement in the common area and the feces are attracting flies. People at the Towers' pool are inundated with flies."

Ono stressed that the mission of his agency is to respond to conflicts between humans and wildlife. The agency doesn't act on its own — only when asked. The decision about when, or if, the agency carries out the project will be up to the board.

He said the task of capturing and euthanizing the birds would last a couple of days. Food laced with a sedative would be placed on the property. After the birds are captured, they would be killed using carbon dioxide — a humane method approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association, he said.

Ono said the reason the birds will be euthanized is "because the state wildlife biologist at the Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn't want the nuisance problem to spread elsewhere."

Peacocks roam wild at locations across O'ahu, but Makaha Valley has long been noted for the birds, particularly after Chinn Ho, the late Honolulu financier and real estate developer, introduced a flock there in the 1950s. Ho's birds — the ancestors of birds that inhabit the valley today — had been raised by Aunt Jennie Wilson, wife of flamboyant Honolulu Mayor Johnny Wilson.

Cathy Goeggel, with Animal Rights Hawai'i, is not convinced of the need to euthanize the peacocks, which she said should only be done as a last resort, if at all. She said there are other ways to control an animal population.

"For example, if you come upon a clutch of eggs that aren't being sat on, you can just shake them with your hand and they won't hatch," Goeggel said.

Towers association president Pond says when he moved in 25 years ago there weren't many peacocks on the property. He thinks he knows the main reason the numbers have increased.

"The biggest problem we have is people feeding them," he said. "I've done research on them and they live in the wild. They don't need any help to survive."

Ono said thinning out the peacock population in the valley would resolve the issue.

If people refrain from feeding them in the future, the problem won't return.

"This is a one-shot deal," Ono said. "Hopefully, we can satisfy the residents with just a couple of operations. We're not going to be doing this over years and years."