Introducing wildlife to the islands can lead to fines of up to $25,000 under new rules drafted in response to the smuggling of axis deer, which were brought to Hawaii island by a local hunter and a Maui pilot.
The rule, which took effect in late February, gives the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources the power to impose maximum fines of between $10,000 and $25,000 for transporting and releasing non-native species.
Big Island environmentalist Springer Kaye said the conservation rule sends the right message. "I think it makes very clear that you cannot transport and release harmful wildlife," she said.
Prior to 2009, Hawaii island had no axis deer — a species that had already wreaked havoc on agricultural and conservation lands on Maui. That year, helicopter pilot Tom Hauptman smuggled three deer to the island from Maui, and returned to the Valley Isle with 14 mouflon rams for his friend and neighbor, Arrow One Ranch owner Jeffrey Scott Grundhauser.
Kaye, manager of the Big Island Invasive Species Committee, said more than $1 million in funds and donated work has been expended trying to rid Hawaii island of axis deer.
In 2012, Hauptman pleaded guilty to illegal possession of game mammals when he transported the deer and sheep in December 2009. Hauptman was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to provide 500 hours of helicopter flight time to agencies, organizations and individuals fighting the spread of invasive species.
Grundhauser, who admitted letting an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent hunt deer and sheep on his ranch without a hunting permit, was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $15,000 fine.
Kaye said there have been no confirmed sightings of axis deer on Hawaii island for more than a year.
A number of harmful species introduced on Hawaii island have not been easy to control or eradicate, including the coqui frogs whose shrill song has invaded many residential and visitor areas.
"The coqui frogs show how a little problem can become a big problem really fast," she said.
