Gov. Green extends axis deer help in Maui County
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Gov. Josh Green extended an emergency proclamation to control the axis deer population damaging farm crops and overgrazing pasture lands in Maui County.
The proclamation extends state emergency efforts through Feb. 25 and suspends some laws that would hamper mitigation measures to control axis deer populations. Signed Dec. 27, the proclamation says the population hasn't been sufficiently reduced through hunting efforts.
A state axis deer control program with $6.1 million funded for 2024-25 allows private landowners to receive $25 to $50 a deer through culling.
Axis deer were brought to the Hawaiian Islands from India in late 1867 as a gift to King Kamehameha V and released on Maui in 1959.
While axis deer have natural predators to control their population in India, they have none in Hawaii and a growth rate estimated at 20-30% a year, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study in 2021.
Haleakala Ranch has said that, largely due to deer and drought, it has had to reduce its herd by 50%. The ranch had to install deer fencing to help control the deer but more is needed.
According to the proclamation, Maui County cannot sustain the deer population, which has eliminated much forage and vegetation that already is scarce due to persistent drought conditions.
Green noted that the state Department of Agriculture has issued eight emergency loans totaling more than $1 million dollars to help Maui ranches offset the damage done by the axis deer.
In addition, axis deer are commingling with livestock, which is suspected to be responsible for the largest bovine tuberculosis outbreak on Molokai in the last 50 years.
The state has embarked on a program to increase fence heights and corral axis deer while culling their numbers to sustainable levels.
The proclamation enables state agencies to continue fencing efforts including contracts to install 11 miles of fencing on Maui.
The state Division of Forestry and Wildlife is continuing its wildlife control permit program in Hawaiian homelands in Keokea and Waiohului from February through July.
In late 2023, the Division of Forestry and Wildlife estimated that based on a recent study, Maui's deer population has been reduced to 34,000.