HILO, Hawaii – Hawaii is home to an incredible diversity of species – many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Predation from invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.
Learn more about invasive species like rats, mongooses and mice causes negative and wide-ranging impacts to native and endangered plants, invertebrates and birds. Managers need additional tools to address these threats to recover Hawaii’s species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Wildlife Research Center to develop more effective methods to control invasive mice. The agencies are seeking public comment on a draft environmental assessment of a study that would evaluate two rodenticides for controlling invasive mice. The public comment period for the environmental assessment extends from April 27 - May 26, 2017.
Mice are not native to Hawaii, but are now found throughout Hawaiian ecosystems and are destructive in a variety of ways. Some of the impacts to native species include injury, decline in reproductive output and death. For example, mice eat seeds and young growth of rare and endangered Hawaiian plants, preventing the new generations from taking hold. Mice can also prey on the eggs and young of Hawai?i’s native birds, causing death, nest abandonment and general decline of reproduction. Left unchecked, invasive mouse populations can explode locally, seriously worsening their impacts to native species.
Because mice occupy wide geographic areas in Hawaii, bait boxes and traps are ineffective control measures. The draft EA will evaluate the effectiveness of hand broadcast application of two different rodenticides on 34 acres of the 131,806 acre U.S. Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii Island. The study will be conducted in fenced units with no public access. The site was selected specifically because it will pose minimal risk to other species.
The draft EA is available for review at: www.fws.gov/pacificislands. Hardcopies are available by request, please send your request to: PTA_EA_Comments@fws.gov or via mail to: Attn: PTA_EA_Comments, USFWS - Pacific Islands Fish & Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana Blvd, Ste. 3-122, Honolulu, HI, 96850
Public comments on the draft EA can be submitted via email: PTA_EA_Comments@fws.gov or mail by sending to: Attn: PTA_EA_Comments, USFWS - Pacific Islands Fish & Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana Blvd, Ste. 3-122, Honolulu, HI, 96850
