Posted on: Thursday, September 2, 2004
Guam's anti-snake budget-cut worrisome
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
The agency that snags roughly 6,000 brown tree snakes annually from Guam's five main ports expects to cut its snake-control efforts by nearly half this year as a result of budget shortfalls.
Hawai'i wildlife officials say they're worried the reduced control efforts will increase the chance the snakes will inadvertently be imported to Hawai'i.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has been using 25 full-time snake trappers and nine dog handlers to trap and find snakes at civilian and military airports and seaports.
Even as military traffic through Guam is increasing, the agency expects up to a 50 percent cut at military ports starting Oct. 1.
Almost 4,000 snakes are caught at Air Force and Navy cargo facilities each year.
Four of the agency's positions have been cut, and eight more are expected to be cut at the start of the federal government's fiscal year Oct. 1.
"Decrease in support for snake interdiction activities on Guam by USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services will only increase the likelihood of snakes arriving in Hawai'i from military or commercial transport," said Domingo Cravalho of the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture. "This program needs to be adequately supported."
Brown tree snakes can hide easily in cargo containers. The mildly venomous creatures are all-purpose feeders. Since their introduction to Guam in the 1940s, they have wiped out most of the island's forest birds, as well as rodents and other reptiles. They also have been responsible for numerous power failures as their bodies span the distance between power lines.
Eight brown tree snakes have been found, alive or dead, in Hawai'i, all in association with shipments from Guam.
Meanwhile, a search is under way for a snake in East Maui, and wildlife officials reported that two of the traps set to capture the snake have been stolen.
In Hana, searchers are working in grids and setting traps in a slowly expanding circle around where the snake was sighted on Hana Highway. Experts from Guam and the Northern Marianas are helping with the search.
It was discovered Monday morning that two of 24 traps set up following a snake sighting Aug. 10 were missing.
It is a federal offense to tamper with or remove the traps, punishable by either fine or imprisonment. But state and federal officials have said no questions will be asked if the traps are returned immediately to the Hana police.
Information about the missing traps can be reported to the police at (808) 244-6400.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808)245-3074.
