bkrownd
Well-known member
Some may have noticed from my 'blog' that I helped with the annual Palila count this January/February. (first time) A couple of interesting developments have happened regarding the Palila this summer. If this gets too long-winded for you, just go down and read the linked article below and the last paragraph.
During the survey I was told that "Earthjustice (et al.)" backtracked on the federal court order to the state regarding the comprehensive removal of ungulates from Mauna Kea, in favor of a compromise with hunting advocates that hunting groups would stop opposing helicopter shooting (thinning) if the mouflon sheep be allowed to stay in Mauna Kea in some numbers for sport hunting. I was not told any details, and may have misinterpreted something, but I asked and that was the basic story I got from the inside.
The State introduced the mouflon in the 1950's and 1960's for sport hunting, and was very resistant to thinning or controlling the populations even after the court judgement in favor of the palila. (herds of tens of thousands of feral sheep, goats and cattle destroyed Mauna Kea long before the mouflon arrived on the scene, but they aren't much of a factor on Mauna Kea anymore) The helicopter shooting used to control numbers in remote parts of the mountain remains a sore point with some of the hunters, who like to claim that it takes "food" out of their families mouthes, and leaves "food" rotting on the ground. Despite this description of concern about "food" I almost always see hunters leaving the wilderness with just mouflon heads mounted on their backpacks and no obvious sign of meat on them. How much "food" is really at stake, and is it really a necessity? On a related note, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park fenced and started trying to remove mouflon from a huge new addition to the Park on Mauna Loa, and hunting advocates are making the same kind of noise about that, as well. There is also "food" based opposition to controlling strawberry guava, probably the most invasive and destructive weed in Hawaii.
I often encounter mouflon across the saddle when I'm out exploring, see them crossing Saddle Road in herds (dangerous). They're quite numerous in Kipuka 'Ainahou and within and above the kipukas inhabited by three endangered honeycreepers and several endangered native plants. People who come to Hawai'i to see the palila usually take an extremely well-travelled road up the West slope of Mauna Kea that runs through the Kaohe Game Management area, an extremely popular bird hunting and game hunting area which is within the core of palila critical habitat, along the edge of active cattle pastures below. This well-travelled area presents the impression that there are very few sheep on Mauna Kea, because the traffic and hunting along the road scare the sheep away. Occasionally you'll see a dozen or so, but they seldom effect the area near the road. I work on Mauna Kea, and daily travel through the Halepohaku complex on the South slope of the mountain, which also presents the impression that there are no sheep on the mountain because the constant human and vehicle activity at Halepohaku scares them off. I saw just one trio of sheep in my years at Halepohaku.
During the palila survey I had the opportunity to do transects on the South slope of Mauna Kea above Pohakuloa (Army) Training Area, which is a very difficult area to access since the Army doesn't usually let people pass through its training areas, and the slope is very steep and rugged. This area is right between Kaohe Game Management Area and Halepohaku. I was very surprised when we encountered many dozens of sheep, especially around and to the East of Pohakuloa Gulch. My secondary on the transect said he saw hunters shooting at a herd of over 100 sheep above the treeline at dawn. (I got down in the safety of the gulch as soon as I heard the report of unseen high powered rifles on the far side of the "baaaah" of many sheep. ) The chewed mamane seedlings and hoof-scoured bare ground in these areas were truly sad and disturbing to see. If the next few generations of mamane trees are largely lost or stunted due to sheep browsing, the palila habitat will continue to both shrink and thin out so that it supports less (or no) palila. This will happen regardless of what kind of "critical habitat" box the Federal government draws on a map. The area above Pohakuloa is already only home to just a minor wing of the palila population, and they are never found consistently much further to the East of it.
During the survey I was told that palila counts were "not good". I probably saw about 1/5 of the total palila count myself, because I got one of the best transects the first day, and hit a good group on the last day along Pohakuloa Gulch. In May, the Hawai'i Audubon Society journal 'Elepaio (v.68, #4) (PDF article, very informative, read it!) carried the lead story that since 2005 palila numbers were consistently declining in a statistically significant way for the first time since counts started. Down by half, from roughly 5300 to 2600. Note that the counts have always been highly variable, between 1000-7000.
Today the Hilo newspaper carried a front page story stating that Earthjustice (et al.) were taking the State of Hawaii DLNR to court again to try to force them to fix and maintain decrepit old fences within palila critical habitat on Mauna Kea so that mouflon sheep could not roam the mountain(s) unhindered, and to remove the sheep. The story said the fences had not been maintained since 2001, but I never saw a fence during the survey that had been "maintained" in the last 20+ years. The story wasn't rich on details, but there was no mention of the story I had been told during the survey about the compromise described between Earthjustice and hunting advocates about helicopter shooting. I do not see any mention of anything on the Earthjustice web site right now. Between this issue coming up again, and the National Park's attempt to remove mouflon from Mauna Loa, and the fight over strawberry guava, and all the new conservation fences going up for pig control, we might see the political heat turned up to boiling on all conservation issues soon.
During the survey I was told that "Earthjustice (et al.)" backtracked on the federal court order to the state regarding the comprehensive removal of ungulates from Mauna Kea, in favor of a compromise with hunting advocates that hunting groups would stop opposing helicopter shooting (thinning) if the mouflon sheep be allowed to stay in Mauna Kea in some numbers for sport hunting. I was not told any details, and may have misinterpreted something, but I asked and that was the basic story I got from the inside.
The State introduced the mouflon in the 1950's and 1960's for sport hunting, and was very resistant to thinning or controlling the populations even after the court judgement in favor of the palila. (herds of tens of thousands of feral sheep, goats and cattle destroyed Mauna Kea long before the mouflon arrived on the scene, but they aren't much of a factor on Mauna Kea anymore) The helicopter shooting used to control numbers in remote parts of the mountain remains a sore point with some of the hunters, who like to claim that it takes "food" out of their families mouthes, and leaves "food" rotting on the ground. Despite this description of concern about "food" I almost always see hunters leaving the wilderness with just mouflon heads mounted on their backpacks and no obvious sign of meat on them. How much "food" is really at stake, and is it really a necessity? On a related note, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park fenced and started trying to remove mouflon from a huge new addition to the Park on Mauna Loa, and hunting advocates are making the same kind of noise about that, as well. There is also "food" based opposition to controlling strawberry guava, probably the most invasive and destructive weed in Hawaii.
I often encounter mouflon across the saddle when I'm out exploring, see them crossing Saddle Road in herds (dangerous). They're quite numerous in Kipuka 'Ainahou and within and above the kipukas inhabited by three endangered honeycreepers and several endangered native plants. People who come to Hawai'i to see the palila usually take an extremely well-travelled road up the West slope of Mauna Kea that runs through the Kaohe Game Management area, an extremely popular bird hunting and game hunting area which is within the core of palila critical habitat, along the edge of active cattle pastures below. This well-travelled area presents the impression that there are very few sheep on Mauna Kea, because the traffic and hunting along the road scare the sheep away. Occasionally you'll see a dozen or so, but they seldom effect the area near the road. I work on Mauna Kea, and daily travel through the Halepohaku complex on the South slope of the mountain, which also presents the impression that there are no sheep on the mountain because the constant human and vehicle activity at Halepohaku scares them off. I saw just one trio of sheep in my years at Halepohaku.
During the palila survey I had the opportunity to do transects on the South slope of Mauna Kea above Pohakuloa (Army) Training Area, which is a very difficult area to access since the Army doesn't usually let people pass through its training areas, and the slope is very steep and rugged. This area is right between Kaohe Game Management Area and Halepohaku. I was very surprised when we encountered many dozens of sheep, especially around and to the East of Pohakuloa Gulch. My secondary on the transect said he saw hunters shooting at a herd of over 100 sheep above the treeline at dawn. (I got down in the safety of the gulch as soon as I heard the report of unseen high powered rifles on the far side of the "baaaah" of many sheep. ) The chewed mamane seedlings and hoof-scoured bare ground in these areas were truly sad and disturbing to see. If the next few generations of mamane trees are largely lost or stunted due to sheep browsing, the palila habitat will continue to both shrink and thin out so that it supports less (or no) palila. This will happen regardless of what kind of "critical habitat" box the Federal government draws on a map. The area above Pohakuloa is already only home to just a minor wing of the palila population, and they are never found consistently much further to the East of it.
During the survey I was told that palila counts were "not good". I probably saw about 1/5 of the total palila count myself, because I got one of the best transects the first day, and hit a good group on the last day along Pohakuloa Gulch. In May, the Hawai'i Audubon Society journal 'Elepaio (v.68, #4) (PDF article, very informative, read it!) carried the lead story that since 2005 palila numbers were consistently declining in a statistically significant way for the first time since counts started. Down by half, from roughly 5300 to 2600. Note that the counts have always been highly variable, between 1000-7000.
Today the Hilo newspaper carried a front page story stating that Earthjustice (et al.) were taking the State of Hawaii DLNR to court again to try to force them to fix and maintain decrepit old fences within palila critical habitat on Mauna Kea so that mouflon sheep could not roam the mountain(s) unhindered, and to remove the sheep. The story said the fences had not been maintained since 2001, but I never saw a fence during the survey that had been "maintained" in the last 20+ years. The story wasn't rich on details, but there was no mention of the story I had been told during the survey about the compromise described between Earthjustice and hunting advocates about helicopter shooting. I do not see any mention of anything on the Earthjustice web site right now. Between this issue coming up again, and the National Park's attempt to remove mouflon from Mauna Loa, and the fight over strawberry guava, and all the new conservation fences going up for pig control, we might see the political heat turned up to boiling on all conservation issues soon.
Last edited: