The state plans to close a Big Island forest reserve for two days next month so it can hunt invasive goats and sheep from helicopters to protect an endangered bird's habitat.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources yesterday said the grazing animals destroy mamane trees eaten by the endangered palila bird.

The state says it's carrying out the aerial hunt to comply with a federal court order.

The Mauna Kea Forest Reserve and Kaohe Game Management Area will be closed Aug. 4-5. The state is making carcasses from the shoot available to the public.

The palila is a yellow-crowned songbird that lives on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea. The bird's population has plunged by more than 60 percent in six years to just 2,200 last year.