State, federal and University of Hawaii wildlife experts are undertaking a yearlong campaign aimed at ensuring the survival of the Hawaiian duck, or koloa.

The chocolate brown koloa maoli is an endangered species largely due to its cross-breeding with the introduced common mallard duck.

"For the long-term recovery of the koloa, it means there has to be some type of separation between the koloa and the mallard, whether it means just in the wild … or whether it means we can’t have any mallards at all," said Stephen Turnbull, Koloa communication and outreach coordinator for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

In an effort to save the species, DLNR, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Hawaii Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, on Wednesday announced the launch of the campaign to heighten public awareness about the Hawaiian duck by way of a Facebook page, website, advertisements and survey. The first 200 people to participate in the survey will receive a free T-shirt that has a koloa design.

Known for forming pair bonds and for fine detail in plumage, coloration and markings, the petite koloa has been around for tens of thousands of years and is uniquely adapted to the Hawaiian landscapes, Turnbull said. The species can be found mauka to makai all the way up to 10,000 feet elevation. About 90 percent of its population is based on Kauai and Niihau.

It’s believed that fewer than 3,000 true koloa remain in the wild.

The effort to protect the species is now focusing on genetic analysis, which involves capturing both native birds and hybrid-types for blood samples.

One of the researchers, University of California, Davis graduate student Caitlin Wells, is attempting to pinpoint the hybrid tally.

While the koloa’s genetic makeup serves as a good match for habitat in the Hawaiian islands, the mallard’s genes stress domestication.

"So the more they interbreed, the more we might get a mixed population where it’s only the domesticated genes that dominate, and we’ve lost all of the native genes from the native ducks," Wells said.

The mallard is on the state of Hawaii’s list of restricted animals for importation.

The awareness campaign is part of the DLNR’s Koloa Restoration Project. The project’s previous efforts to restore the koloa population include a captive breeding program that started in the 1960s and continued for about three decades.

For more information about the campaign, visit www.facebook.com/Hawaii­DLNR and dlnr.hawaii.gov/ wildlife/koloa.