Call them bad asses.

Some Waikoloa residents fear the drought may drive 400 to 600 feral donkeys to break through fencing and wreak havoc in residential areas and on roadways.

Meanwhile, about 50 to 100 donkeys, roaming free on the perimeter of Waikoloa Village, a residential area of about 3,000 homes, have been drinking out of swimming pools and braying in the early morning.

"They’re doing quite a bit of damage to property, scaring people," Waikoloa Village Association manager Jim Whillock said. "We’ve had dogs killed, and cars are hitting them, which is not good for either the donkeys or the drivers."

Last year Billie Jean Whitney, 83, and her husband were driving home from Hilo at 6:20 p.m. Dec. 9 when they encountered a donkey on Waikoloa Road, 20 minutes from their home.

"We just came around the corner and in the middle of the road was this donkey," she said. "My husband swerved and it ended up on our hood.

"It was just shocking, scary," Whitney said. "We thought we killed the donkey, but he was meandering off to the side of the road, joining seven other donkeys. He was just fine."

The Waikoloa donkeys have proliferated in the dry grasslands and come from the same stock as the beasts affectionately known as the Kona Nightingales, used before World War II in Kona for hauling coffee beans. Veterinarian Dr. Billy Bergin recalls about 30 head of the Kona Nightingales were brought from Huehue Ranch in Kona in the early ’70s to Waikoloa Village to lend a Western ambiance.

About 65 people attended a meeting Aug. 21 at the Waikoloa Community Association to discuss the growing problem.

Waikoloa resident Sean Gallagher said the sentiment at the meeting was, "Why did we become the dumping ground for these four-legged vagabonds?"

Fred Duerr, retired manager of the Kona Village Resort, said a herd of feral donkeys had become a hazard after Queen Kaahumanu Highway was built right across the path from their grazing grounds to freshwater ponds and salt licks near the ocean.

As president of a committee to save the donkeys, Duerr kept a few at a paddock at the resort, but the problem was too big.

Around 2000, when the donkeys became a nuisance at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, leaving their droppings on the golf course, an independent consultant for Hualalai had the donkeys rounded up by cowboys and trucked to Parker Ranch and Waikoloa, Duerr said.

THE EXCEPTIONAL drought in South Kohala means the donkeys are "not getting the food and water to sustain themselves," Whillock said. "We’re trying to find some sort of balance between keeping the donkeys healthy and keeping them out of people’s swimming pools. We’re concerned if they don’t get enough water, they might push the fence down."

The situation may turn critical "if we don’t get rain soon," Whillock said. "The grass is just not growing."

A cattle rancher who leases land from Waikoloa Village, which is surrounded by open areas and sits on about 10,000 acres, has been providing water for the donkeys. The association recently began paying the rancher $300 a month for the service.

The donkeys have been competing with the cattle for food, Whillock said.

Whillock bemoans the fact that no county, state or federal agency will help the community help them deal with the problem.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources will not take an active role in removing the animals because they are on private land.

Humane Society of the United States representatives said they would like the association to adopt out the donkeys, but only after they have been sterilized, to responsible ranchers and animal lovers.

Some sheep ranchers may also like to use donkeys to ward off feral or aggressive dogs. Landowners could use them to maintain their properties because they will eat foliage other species may not like, said Inga Gibson, Hawaii state director of the Humane Society of the United States.

"These are iconic symbols of Hawaii’s history," she said.

But sterilizing just the jacks, or males, would cost about $20,000 in medical supplies alone, and the Humane Society probably won’t have the funding until next year, she said.

Whillock said he doesn’t think they can wait.

Bergin’s son, veterinarian Dr. Brady Bergin, who did an aerial survey Aug. 22, said he found 400 to 600 head in a confined area of about 2,100 acres, but they are exploring an additional 5,000 acres.

THE YOUNGER Bergin said he believes they must start with sterilizing and relocating an estimated 50 to 100 freely roaming the Waikoloa Village perimeter. He found the 700- to 900-pound animals healthy, but the streams they relied on for water are bone-dry.

"It’s going to take years to get the herd down to a manageable level," Bergin said, but he’s undeterred. "They were put there by people, so I think it’s our responsibility to do what we can."

Anika Glass, a member of the South Kohala Traffic Safety Committee, said there is no quick solution.

"We want to always have donkeys," she said. "We’re not trying to eradicate donkeys. They’re key to our cultural heritage."

For more information or to make a donation, go to www.humanesociety.org/hawaiidonkeys.