Saturday’s editorial pertaining to nene and cats was economical with facts and deserved to be thoroughly researched before its blanket condemnation of the “trap, neuter, return and manage” (TNRM) movement (“Stop feeding feral cats,” Our View, Star-Advertiser).
Indeed, by the end of World War II, there were only 32 nene on Hawaii island, kept by the Shipman family. Sir Peter Scott, founder of the Severn Wildfowl Trust (and son of Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer) took some nene to England where he successfully brought the nene back from the brink of extinction. If left to the laissez-faire policy of the territorial government, there would be no nene.
The chief danger to the nene goose lies not from cats but from starvation and loss of habitat. They frequent golf courses where they graze on grass heavily treated with herbicides and pesticides. The second-most dangerous factor is trauma caused by traffic and accidents at golf courses and other locations that are unsafe for the birds. Predation and toxoplasmosis are a far lesser cause of death.
If the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) was doing its job, it would organize feeding stations up country. Car parks are not healthy places for these birds. Nene are opportunistic feeders. They regularly cadge food from campers in Haleakala.
Sending out armed men and women in bulletproof vests and belts full of tactical paraphernalia to intimidate ladies and young children just demonstrates the heavy-handed inability of DLNR to respond to delicate issues.
Dawn Chang, the new chair of DLNR, was sent by her boss, Gov. Josh Green, to meet with the cat caretakers. I was hopeful that the meeting would result in a negotiation. However, Chang proved adamant. E-mails and calls to the Governor’s Office are being automatically forwarded to DLNR. Very disappointing. This kind of attitude from the fifth floor is quite off-putting.
There will always be feral cats at shopping malls, restaurants and hotels. Remove the current population and new cats will fill the void. The generous, compassionate people who use their own time and resources to TNRM the cats should be supported, not castigated.
Without a detente, the cats will suffer, the birds will suffer and more people will lose faith in our local government.
The nene that have been neglected by DLNR and used primarily as a reason to persecute cats deserve a sanctuary of their own — a safe place to breed and raise their young. DLNR has lots of land; government should help fund TNRM.
Perhaps on Oahu, some of the obscene pay raise money for our City Council salaries could be repurposed for actually doing good for others than themselves.
