An adult nene was killed Sunday morning by a vehicle that hit it in Haleakala National Park, officials said. Officials remind park visitors to drive cautiously and not feed the endangered geese, the Maui News reported yesterday.

The nene was hit between 7 and 7:15 a.m. in the downhill lane of Crater Road, on a curve roughly halfway between the Halemau'u trailhead at 7,990 feet elevation and the Leleiwi overlook at 8,840 feet, according to Joy Tamayose, a park wildlife biologist. There were no weather-related visibility problems at the time, officials said.

Nene are struck and killed by motorists about once a year on average, Tamayose said, but "having even one hit is a huge loss, particular one of a breeding pair."

The park has about 250 nene, but only half are known to breed each year. October through March is the peak nene nesting season at Haleakala.

The nene, or Hawaiian goose, is an endangered species on both state and federal listings. It's also the Hawai'i state bird.