Thirteen Laysan Albatrosses were killed last Thursday by a stray dog at a nesting site on private land at Kakiu Point near Kilauea, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said. The remains of the six adults and seven chicks
Thirteen Laysan Albatrosses were killed last Thursday by a stray dog at a nesting site on private land at Kakiu Point near Kilauea, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said.
The remains of the six adults and seven chicks were found by the property owner on land located west of Larsen’s Beach, according to Brenda Zaun, a wildlife biologist with the Kaua‘i National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
The complex, which comprises wildlife refuges in Kilauea, Hanalei and Lihu‘e, is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“It is terrible,” Zaun said of the bird killings.
The albatrosses are not endangered, but the bird colonies found on privately owned lands and government lands on Kaua‘i help with breeding and the perpetuation of the species.
“We don’t have hundreds of thousands of albatrosses (like) on Midway (at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge), but one less albatross (on Kaua‘i) matters,” she said.
Zaun said the Kaua‘i property owner on whose land the albatrosses were killed called U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials in Kilauea after the discovery of the bird remains.
A few of the albatrosses had nested at the site for a few years before they were killed, Zaun said.
“A dog killed the albatrosses. That is all we know; six adults and seven chicks,” Zaun said. “Some (of the chicks) were offspring of the adults that were killed.”
She said she is certain the birds were killed by a stray dog, based on the bite marks on the birds and animals tracks.
“We don’t know what type of dog it is,” Zaun said. “Our law-enforcement officer is investigating, talking with neighbors (who live around Kakiu Point).”
She said the nesting point was home to the seven chicks and one other chick, which was not harmed.
Zaun said the parents of the chick are likely to come back to the nesting point for the surviving chick.
The parents of that chick were not among the dead adult albatrosses, Zaun said. “I banded all the parents (which were killed) during incubation (of eggs), and the parents (of the surviving chick) are not there,” she said.
Zaun recommended private-property owners who have albatrosses living on their land put fences up around nesting areas or areas inhabited by the birds, as a way to protect them from stray dogs.
Fences are the best way to keep dogs and people away from the birds, Zaun said. Interaction with humans can disrupt the reproductive cycle of the birds.
The same property owners should keep dogs on leashes to protect the albatrosses found on their land, Zaun said.
Zaun said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees can help private-property owners put up protective fences.
Landowners who want help putting up fences can contact Zaun at the Kilauea refuge, 828-1413, or e-mail her at brenda_zaun@fws.gov.
The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refugee is home to 192 nesting birds, 54 chicks, and 20 to 50 “non-nesters,” Zaun said.
The non-nesting birds don’t have a mate, and are those which are too young to nest but hover in the skies over Kilauea, Zaun said.
Another 50 albatrosses live in habitats at the U.S Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility near Kekaha, according to officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
A small smattering of albatrosses are found on private lands, including some on the North Shore.
Nearly 500,000 nesting pairs of Laysan and black-footed albatrosses are found at the government-operated refuge on Midway Island, according to a survey done last December.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
