Recent rains have led to the delay of a plan to sterilize hundreds of wild donkeys on the Big Island.

A Waimea veterinarian, community groups, and the Humane Society of the United States are cooperating to control the spiraling population, estimated to be about 400 to 600 animals. 

The groups hope to castrate the males, sterilize the females and send them to sanctuaries on the mainland or in Hawaii.

But KITV reported the groups are having trouble corralling the animals because the donkeys are staying in the hills, where the rains of recent months have enabled plants to grow and provide the donkeys with plenty of food.

Last year, the groups trapped about a hundred donkeys.