HANALEI —Vehicles have been running over a few Hawaiian Moorhen on a daily basis in Hanalei since heavy flooding hit the North Shore in recent weeks, biologist Terry Lilley said Wednesday. Good eats are enticing the ‘alae ‘ula — a
HANALEI —Vehicles have been running over a few Hawaiian Moorhen on a daily basis in Hanalei since heavy flooding hit the North Shore in recent weeks, biologist Terry Lilley said Wednesday.
Good eats are enticing the ‘alae ‘ula — a normally secretive wetland bird — to traverse shallow waters near the road, said state Department of Land and Natural Resource’s Kaua‘i Aquatics Division biologist Don Heacock.
“When flood waters come up, it’s like a smorgasbord of food floating down the river for them,” he said Wednesday, adding that they may also be moving their young to higher ground.
Drivers have been hitting about two to four of these native birds every day and Lilley said he even observed a Kaua‘i pick-up truck intentionally swerve to hit one of them on the shoulder of the road Monday.
“I’m assuming they thought it was a chicken,” he said.
“Anyone driving on the freeway next to the river by the taro fields” needs to extremely careful to avoid the birds, particularly now, as they continue migrating across the road, he said.
“It all boils down to somebody didn’t slow down,” Heacock said.
With an increasing loss of natural habitat, the waterbirds are sometimes forced onto roads and developed areas where there was once only wetland, he said. In addition, the “huge magnitude flood” in Hanalei is “not something that happens regularly.”
“In 30 years, I’ve never seen an ‘alae ‘ula in the road like shearwaters,” he said.
The vehicles running over the birds is a violation of the endangered species act, Lilley said, adding that he has not witnessed any government agencies respond to the situation yet.
“To let it go and have these animals get run over is kind of a travesty,” he said.
In an attempt to protect species from extinction “as a consequence of economic growth and development,” it is against the law to take (kill), possess, sell or transport any endangered species, according to the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Because the native bird is so secretive, “survey methods are inadequate to accurately estimate population size.” It was estimated that less than 300 of the birds remained in the state as of 2005, with most of them residing in the Hanalei and Wailua River valleys, according to Hawai‘i’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy report.
“Flooding is good, what’s bad is developing things where they shouldn’t be,” Heacock said, citing the highway near the Hanalei River as an example and homes close to the shoreline or waterways. “People forget the little factors that make a huge difference ecologically.”
A request for comment from DLNR officials regarding the recent incidents was unsuccessful by press time.
• Coco Zickos, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
