Kauai police arrested a 37-year-old Hanamaulu man for allegedly assaulting a 47-year-old woman when her dog reportedly killed a nene gosling in Princeville.

Kauai County spokeswoman Kim Tamaoka said the Princeville woman was walking her dog Monday morning without a leash when the canine ran off and attacked the gosling.

The Garden Island newspaper reported the woman was walking her dog on a pathway near the Princeville Golf Course when her dog attacked the nene.

The 37-year-old man was working nearby when he saw the attack, Tamaoka said, and he allegedly ran over and kicked the dog.

At some point in his attempt to stop the dog, he allegedly kicked the woman.

The woman reported the assault to police.

Officers arrested the man on suspicion of third-degree assault.

Dan Dennison, spokesman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said officers of the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement responded to the scene and picked up the gosling carcass.

“DOCARE is continuing its investigation of the nene killing. A citation may be issued upon completion of their investigation,” Dennison said in an emailed statement.

The nene is the state bird. It is listed as an endangered species and protected under federal and state laws.

Loyal Mehrhoff, endangered species recovery director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said the introduction of mammalian predators was the main culprit in the sharp decline of the population.

Efforts to protect the nene, also known as the Hawaiian goose, has led to a population increase from 30 in the 1960s to close to 3,000 across Hawaii today, Mehrhoff said.

In March the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed reclassifying the status of the endemic goose to threatened from endangered under the Endangered Species Act thanks to successful recovery efforts. A final determination has yet to be made.

Mehrhoff said, “The birds have done well, but they’re not yet fully recovered where they can be totally taken off from the endangered species list. They still have to be protected.”

Ground predators such as dogs, cats, rats, mongoose and pigs, as well as habitat destruction and collisions with vehicles, continue to pose a threat to the nene.