Parents of boy accept
blame for death of nene
HILO >> The foster parents of a 9-year-old boy who killed an endangered nene goose at a Hilo park on Sunday have accepted responsibility for the incident, a state official said.
State Department of Land & Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward said the parents expressed remorse Wednesday for the bird's death. Ward declined to identify the couple but said they live in East Hawaii.
The case is pending, and investigators will interview witnesses, Ward said. The parents said the boy did not intend to kill the nene and was unsupervised when he threw a small coconut at the bird, Ward said.
But a witness, Scott Andrews, said he saw the boy throwing rocks for about half an hour and is certain the projectile was not a coconut. Andrews, who lives across from Leleiwi Beach Park, said the killing was intentional and that the child jumped up and down saying, "I got it, I got it."
Andrews said the boy should receive counseling so he can learn that it is wrong to be cruel to animals.
The nene that died, a male about 3 to 4 years old, was one of two that lived at the park for about a year. No decision has been made on what to do with its female mate, Ward said.
The nene is the state bird and has been listed as an endangered species since 1967. Harming one is a violation of federal and state law.
