LAHAINA >> Authorities on Maui are investigating whether someone intentionally ran over and killed a mother nene and one of her goslings. Killed geese on Maui
prompt investigationAssociated Press
The dead birds, discovered within five feet of each other, were found last week on a cane haul road near Lahainaluna High School.
Wildlife officials said the male gosling had a visible tire track on it, and the mother Hawaiian goose also appeared to have been struck.
The mother Hawaiian goose had been successfully raising two goslings before she was killed, said John Medeiros, a biologist with the state Department of Land & Natural Resources.
Her mate and the other gosling have not been seen, Medeiros said.
The mother goose was part of a flock known to wildlife officials as the "nene of Lahainaluna," because they frequented an aquaculture pond above the high school and occasionally drifted down to the campus.
The mother, identified by her ID band as "BZ," was one of only two female nene to have produced young in West Maui.
Once on the verge of extinction, the nene has rebounded, largely due to preservation efforts.
For the past several years, wildlife officials have released birds raised in captivity in an effort to find an environment that suits them better than the often frigid climes of Haleakala National Park.