Today their descendants number in the tens of thousands, and they eat crops and native plants and damage forests. Eight axis deer, a goodwill gift from Hong Kong, were released on Molokaʻi in 1868. Geological Survey fact sheet , Hawaii’s native plants evolved without grazing animals, which can make them vulnerable to grazing.
According to the U.S.
Introduced animals have damaged native plants by browsing, trampling, and bark stripping, the fact sheet says. Axis deer, also known as chital, are native to India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Before people arrived in Hawaii, the islands had no native land mammals except bats; there were no deer, sheep, or cattle. So when hooved animals came, the damage was quick. In their home range, axis deer are preyed upon by tigers, leopards and wild dogs. Hawaii has no such predators. Fences help, but many older ones are only four feet high and axis deer can easily jump them; state agencies are now raising existing fences to eight feet. Then the team did computer simulations. Those are model results, not promises . Not everyone sees the deer in the same way. Some people hunt them for food; others lose crops and watch forests thin out. That makes the discussion harder. The story shows how a generous gift can have effects that last for generations, and relocating a species to a new place can produce results that are difficult to undo. Protecting native plants also protects the soil and reefs that people rely on. Hawaii’s story is a reminder to think long-term.
Some were later transferred to Lānaʻi in 1920, while others were released on Maui in 1959, the fact sheet says. Without predators, introduced herds can increase by 20 to 30 percent per year, the fact sheet says. Some females on Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi may breed as young as 4 to 6 months of age. In good food years, more than 90 percent of mature females have fawns. A 2021 study in Pacific Science examined Maui. The authors, Steven Hess and Seth Judge, say only nine deer were brought there in 1959. They cite estimates of more than 10,000 deer, even though hunters and managers have killed more than 11,200. Later estimates ranged from as many as 60,000 on Maui in 2022 to about 26,000 across Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi in 2025, according to the state. Even removing 10 percent of the herd each year, the population still increased. Real progress will likely require 20 to 30 percent a year with more females removed, the authors say.
Since 1778, about 10 percent of native Hawaiian plants have gone extinct, in part due to nonnative species.
