Alika, the black-tailed buck deer that cheered thousands of children at the Pua Loke Forestry Arboretum in Lihu’e, had to be shot dead Tuesday morning after it was freed by “vandals” and became aggressive toward its handlers. Officials with the
Alika, the black-tailed buck deer that cheered thousands of children at the Pua Loke Forestry Arboretum in Lihu’e, had to be shot dead Tuesday morning after it was freed by “vandals” and became aggressive toward its handlers.
Officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife on Kaua`i blamed “the thoughtless work of vandals” for the deer’s demise.
DLNR personnel arriving for work Tuesday discovered the cyclone fencing of Alika’s pen “had been cut wide open,” said Tom Telfer, district wildlife manager.
The breakaway buck wasn’t in sight, but tracks led to a wooded gully nearby, adjacent to the Lihu`e sugar mill. The personnel that usually cared for the deer called out and Alika appeared and was coaxed back into the forestry division’s compound.
According to Telfer, workers tried for more than an hour to move Alika from the compound back into its pen, using plywood sheets for protection. But Alika resisted and began charging workers, using its antlers.
“In the interest of personnel safety, the buck had to be put down,” Telfer said.
Telfer said the deer was obtained as an orphan fawn six years ago and was bottle-fed and reared within the arboretum pen “where people could enjoy him. Alika’s frequent visitors will surely miss him.” Another similarly exhibited black-tailed deer, a female named Elekia, was the victim of a “thoughtless shooting” about nine years ago at the same pen, Telfer said.
Telfer indicated that because of the unfortunate endings of the two deer, the Division of Forestry and Wildlife will no longer exhibit wild orphaned deer because of the safety and vandalism problems associated with such displays.
According to Aulani Wilhelm, DLNR spokeswoman on Oahu, a mature black-tailed buck can be very dangerous. Though relatively tame within its pen, Alika had exhibited a mix of tameness and wild instinct, a trait that had become particularly noticeable during the rutting season, she said.
According to DLNR officials, Alika “had become extremely aggressive and unmanageable and unsafe to handle.” Deer in the wild usually live only about 10 years, although in captivity some have lived as long as 20 years.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.
252) and[dwilken@pulitzer.net]
