LIHU‘E — Lack of funding and availability of specialized personnel have delayed efforts to again attempt to rid Lehua Island of introduced Polynesian rats, federal officials said.
It is now the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ job to try to secure funding. The job is estimated to cost between $200,000 and $700,000, said Ken Foote, information and education specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of External Affairs.
“The key is we’re not giving up,” Foote said Tuesday.
The need for the three main governmental agencies involved in the eradication effort — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services and DLNR — to agree on how to proceed, and where the funding might come from, also slowed efforts, he said.
A combination of the holidays, illness of a key person involved in the eradication efforts, and multi-agency coordination also has slowed the effort, he said.
Yet to be determined is whether the remaining rats are a residual population unaffected by the previous eradication efforts, or a reintroduced population, said Foote.
To determine that, samples of rats from Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau have to be acquired and compared to poisoned ones from Lehua, said Foote.
Rats attack, damage and kill native and endangered plants and animals on Lehua Island, which is un-populated by humans, he said.
The “internal stakeholders,” meaning the governmental agencies involved in the eradication plans, met last Thursday to plot funding and eradication strategy, he said.
The two methods of eradication — aerial spraying of rodenticide island-wide that is effective and expensive, or a combination of hand-spreading of rodenticide and dispersal of bait stations where rats have been seen on the island, which is less expensive and less effective — are both not options at the present due to financial, logistical and personnel considerations, he said.
“The state DLNR and USDA Wildlife Services are currently looking to obtain the necessary funding and identify qualified personnel to conduct the necessary reassessment” of rat populations on the island, given the time elapsed between the last eradication attempt and now, he said.
Such a reassessment visit might be accomplished within the next 60 days, he said.
“All partners are still committed to working together to determine the most effective method of eliminating rats from the island,” he said.
“Restoration can be successful and Lehua’s native species can again thrive through an ongoing commitment to the restoration of the island, cooperation among partners and stakeholders, engagement of the community, and learning from past experience,” he said.
Foote also spoke of testing local marine fish, specifically triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapua‘a), for presence of the rodenticide.
Again, funding could slow testing efforts.
Some people on Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau blamed fish and whale kills on wayward rodenticide ingested by the marine organisms, something DLNR officials found there was no evidence to prove.
“Some basic experiments might be possible to answer relatively simple questions, while more detailed scientific testing will require more complicated experimental design and would be very expensive to conduct,” he said.
“We haven’t given up on testing.”
Jobs might be created for residents of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau in conducting Lehua restoration efforts once the rats are gone, said Foote.
“If funding, qualified personnel and training is available, we hope to involve residents from these areas by demonstrating and teaching the methods used on Lehua, Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau,” he said.
“This will not only provide jobs, but build and strengthen relationships between local residents and conservation agencies.”
