HAWAIIAN GOOSE (NENE) Branta sandvicensis (Vigors) 



Order: ANSERIFORMES Family: ANATIDAE 



Distinguishing characteristics : A heavily barred, gray-brown goose with black face, 

 buff neck with deep furrows in plumage, black bill. Feet only partly webbed. 



Present distribution : Lava flows between 5,000 and 8,000 feet on the slopes of Mauna Loa, 

 and Hualalai, Island of Hawaii. Reintroduction efforts on Maui in Haleakala Crater began 

 in 1962. Nesting occurring but results uncertain. 



Former distribution : Over a much more extensive area of the island of Hawaii, 

 Hawaiian Islands . Possibly island of Maui . 



Status : Still very uncommon and localized. Prospect for survival better than in 1949 

 when restoration program started. 



Estimated numbers : Reduced from estimated 25,000 in latter part of 1800' s to possibly 

 less than 50. Less than 1,000 estimated in the wild in 1972. 



Breeding rate in the wild : Two to five eggs per year. 



Reasons for decline : Former hunting, predation by introduced mammals, such as dogs, 

 pigs and mongooses , destruction of food and cover by grazing animals . 



Protective measures already taken : Protected by Federal and State law . Bureau of 

 Sport Fisheries and Wildlife has annual contract of $25,000 with Hawaii Division of Fish 

 and Game to continue propagation program . The Division is continuing ecological 

 investigations. Four refuges totaling over 50,000 acres of private land have been 

 established in Hawaii through temporary cooperative agreements with landowners and 

 Division of Fish and Game . As of July 1972, releases of captive-reared stock totaled 816 

 on Hawaii, 297 on Maui. Publicize critical status and aesthetic and scientific values. 



Measures proposed : Preservation of natural environment including establishment of 

 needed permanent refuges. Control of predators, feral grazing animals and domestic 

 stock. Continue captive propagation program. Continue reintroduction into former range. 

 Introduction into new range . Intensify ecological and life history research of the species . 



Number in captivity : Several hundred in zoos and private and government aviaries in 

 the United States and Europe . 



Breeding potential in captivity : Good. 



References ; 



Anonymous. 1963. A return of the nene to Hawaii . Nature 200: 945-946 . 



Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife administrative reports . 



Elder, W. H. , and D. H. Woodside. 1958. Biology and management of the Hawaiian 



goose. Trans. 23rd N. A. Wildlife Conf. pp. 198-215. 

 Hawaii Division of Fish and Game administrative reports. 

 Scott, P. Severn Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, England. 



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