Abundance, distribution, and removals of feral pigs at Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex 2010-2015

Author:

Leopold, Christina R., Hess, Steven, Kendall, Steve J., Judge, Seth W.

Title:

Abundance, distribution, and removals of feral pigs at Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex 2010-2015

Periodical:

Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report

Year:

2016

Pages:

49

Subject:

Feral ungulates Feral pig control Feral livestock Mauna Kea Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge

Summary:

The Hakalau Forest Unit (HFU) of Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex (BINWRC) has intensively monitored non-native ungulate presence and distribution during surveys of all managed areas since 1988. In this report we: 1) provide results from recent ungulate surveys and the number of removals at HFU to determine the distribution, abundance, and efficacy of removals of feral pigs, the dominant ungulate, from 2010 to 2015; 2) present results of surveys of the presence and distribution of several ungulate species at the Kona Forest Unit (KFU) of BINWRC from November of 2012 to April of 2015; 3) present results of surveys of weed presence and cover at both refuge units; and 4) present comparative analyses of forest canopy cover at KFU from visual estimates and geospatial imagery. Removals of feral pigs at HFU appear to have significantly decreased pig abundance over the study period from 2010–2015.

URL:

http://hdl.handle.net/10790/2684

Date:

March 2016

Collection:

Monographs