Fish and Wildlife Service, by 1950, only 30 nēnē remained in the wild. The same story puts the number at 3,862 statewide in its 2022 annual survey. Most of us would probably walk past a goose without a second glance. But one goose in Hawaii went from thousands to the brink of extinction and back to thousands again. The state bird of Hawaii is the nēnē. So what went wrong, and how did people turn it around?
According to a feature story from the U.S.
Results were mixed, with many of the newly released birds and their offspring being killed by introduced predators, especially mongooses. People stepped in. In 1967, the nēnē was listed as endangered on the first-ever federal list of protected species, which gave it federal protection, the press release notes. Between 1960 and 1997, over 2,000 nēnē were released on Hawaii Island and Maui. Across all the main Hawaiian Islands, nearly 3,000 captive-bred nēnē were released at more than 20 sites in the decades after the 1967 listing.
The feature story says captive breeding programs are based on private collections in Europe, Hawaii, and the mainland U.S.
Then research at Makauwahi Cave Reserve on the island’s south shore turned up nēnē bones buried deep, providing planners with the evidence they needed. Twelve captive-reared birds were released at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in 1991, and reintroduction efforts continued through 2000. With no established mongoose population, the birds thrived, and by 2012, Kauai was home to an estimated 60% of the state’s nēnē.
Because there was no known history of the birds nesting there, scientists at first held off on reintroducing nēnē to Kauai.
