In Hawaii, the only ones in the rat race are mongooses. But if the federal and state governments have their way, there will be no rats racing, or mongooses catching them.
There is a big flaw in the federal and state proposal for statewide eradication of Hawaii’s rodents and mongooses, currently under environmental review.
Federal and state policy is to recreate Hawaii’s environmental past, to restore species and ecosystems that existed before Western contact. The past is considered a more “natural” state. Rodents and mongooses, both introduced species, are threatening some “native” species and changing the past, requiring their eradication.
Here is the flaw. The Hawaiian environment has changed over time. The new “natural” is a mixture of different species from around the world, creating novel ecosystems. This is what exists in nature today.
“Natural” is what you find in nature. And that changes over time.
Modern Hawaiian ecosystems have evolved as a result of climate change, modern cultural usage, modern pollution, species introductions, disease introductions, land development and more. Eliminating introduced species, even if possible, would not turn the clock back. It would simply create a new “natural.”
The natural environment in Hawaii for the past hundred years or more has consisted of rodents and mongooses, along with other nonnative species. These species may be putting pressure on species that have defined ecosystems in the past, but that pressure is part of a larger environmental shift away from the past.
We cannot recreate the past. Climate change will not allow it. And modern culture is not going to go away. We can scapegoat rodents and mongooses, but they are really a small part of the cause of change.
Of course, it’s easier to kill a mouse than change the climate or culture.
If we want to save certain species, then let’s set aside zoological or botanical parks for them. These parks will need to be constantly maintained, since past ecosystems are artificial creations in today’s world. They are an exhibit, not the real thing.
And here is the irony. The government is attacking the nature we have today to create an artificial ecosystem that simulates the past, and considers this conservation. It is not. Efforts to restore past ecosystems in the face of change are not sustainable, and actually attack nature as it exists today.
That attack may include aerial application of poisons onto conservation lands to kill the rodents and mongooses. It will also kill other animals who eat the poison or eat poisoned rodents, such as cats (both feral and domestic), dogs and birds, including egrets, herons, barn owls and the endangered Hawaiian owl.
That means it could poison the species it is meant to protect. Endless control will include endless use of poison, potentially impacting our watershed, reefs and marine life.
Before we poison the environment and the food chain to kill rodents and mongooses, let’s imagine that these species are part of the new, natural Hawaiian environment — because they are.
Let’s save threatened and endangered species by removing them, if possible, to safer environments, and perhaps assist their reproduction or clone them to save them from extinction.
Massive, ongoing poisoning of conservation lands and the food chain is not the answer. Let’s allow nature to continue evolving and adapting to change, and assist less adaptable species by placing them in small, manageable environments.
Poisoning the environment is never the answer to keeping things “natural.” Saving a species cannot be accomplished with an environmental war. Like it or not, rodents and mongooses are part of the new natural in Hawaii. Accepting that can help save Hawaii’s environment.
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Public comment is being accepted through April 7 on a programmatic environmental impact statement for rodent and mongoose eradication and control throughout Hawaii (see 808ne.ws/1XaTRwI).
