Deep Diving Into Wildlife

The Hawaiian Stilt ( Himantopus mexicanus knudseni ) is also known as the Aeʻo. The aeʻo is endemic to the Hawaiian islands and is found on all the Hawaiian islands except Lanaʻi and Kahoʻolawe; found generally below 150 meters. It is a subspecies of the black-necked stilt. It is known for it slender structure, long legs, and thin long beak; this shoreline bird can grow up to 15 inches in length with a wingspan for 28 inches. Like many of the other endemic species in Hawaii, it is endangered due to introduced species, decline in food source, and loss of habitat space. The aeʻo feeds on worms, crabs, fish, and insects in shallow bodies of water

Hawaii only has one endemic land mammal and that is the Hawaiian Hoary bat or ʻōpeʻapeʻa ( Aeorestes semotus ). They can be sighted on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, the Big Island, and Maui. It's believed that these bats migrated to Hawaii from the US west coast at two separated times. But documented breeding populations are present only on Kauai and the Big island. The first migration was perhaps a thousand years ago and the second, about ten thousand years ago. Well recognized by its silver frost appearance at the ends of their brown and black fur. Their diet consist of mainly insects and they can grow to about 6 inches with a wingspan of 12 inches. The Hawaiian Hoary bat can produce various sound frequencies to detect its insect prey. Unfortunately, the Hoary bat have been on the endangered species list since 1970. Their low population is a result of deforestation and pesticide use. It's quite rare to spot a Hawaiian Hoary bat, due to the fact that they prefer solitary...

A Belgian Malinois, named Cobra has been helping detect fungal diseases causing Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Cobra has shown to be a fast learner to pick up the scent of the fungus. Kealoha Kinney, a scientist from the Institute of Pacific Island Forestry was the one responsible this creative project idea. There are two fungal diseases that have influenced the collapse of hundreds of thousands of acres of native ʻōhiʻa on the Big Island: Ceratocyst lukuokia and Ceratocystis huliohia . This project was funded by Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and led by US Forest Service, Redland Ahead Florida-based non-profit Redland Ahead, and Florida International University. Cobra has been learning to detect the scent of the fungus in trials. As a part of the training process infected samples collected from the forest packed in sealed containers that allow the volatile organic compounds to be exposed and not the biological material to escape, so Cobra can pick up on the sce...

There are hundreds of thousands of stray cats on Big Island, Oahu, Maui and Kauai. On Oahu, colonies of feral and stray cats have been thriving at Honolulu Community College, University at Manoa, alleys, empty parking lots.  The stench of feces or caterwauling is not the main concern though. Scientists are very worried about the spread of toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease that cats have spread around the areas from Manoa to Waianae. Toxoplasmosis has been known to kill at least eight critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals, two spinner dolphins, nene geese and native birds over the past 15 years. A Hawaiian monk seal RN36, also known as Uilani resting on the shoreline. Uilani died of toxoplasmosis in 2015. This parasite attacks the tissue and cause massive inflammatory response in the organs and the cells stop working. Toxoplasmosis can only reproduce in cat feces. Other animals are exposed to this parasite by contaminated food or water. From mauka to makai, cat f...