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Virtual hunt on for alien trees
The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii is hoping the public will help it scour online photos of Kauai rain forest for signs of invasive trees.
The nonprofit organization said last month it wants to find where Australian tree ferns and African tulip trees are growing. Both first came to Hawaii as ornamental plants but have since taken over large parts of native forests.
The Nature Conservancy said staff members hope the crowdsourcing will help them locate and count the plants more quickly.
Plant enthusiasts and others wanting to help may tag high-resolution aerial images of Kauai forest posted online. Photographs of forests on other islands will be analyzed if this initial project is successful. Visit nature.ly/1vw5voZ to start.
County hopes to cull feral cats
Kauai is considering how to reduce a feral cat population blamed for killing threatened native seabirds.
The Garden Island newspaper this week reported that potential measures include prohibiting the feeding and sheltering of cats on county-owned or managed properties.
Other proposals would strengthen current cat licensing laws and create a free, county-funded spay or neuter program.
An 11-member Feral Cat Task Force compiled the proposals. The group recommended that the island have zero feral, abandoned and stray cats by 2025.
Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s administration will consider the ideas while drafting legislation to reduce the feral cat population.
Cats are a major threat to Kauai’s native seabirds, whose populations are declining.