Hunters will be capable of take wild boar extra regularly in sure Puna forest reserves beneath new rules adopted by the state Board of Land and Pure Assets on Friday.
The brand new guidelines enhance every day bag limits from two to 4 per hunter within the Nanawale, Malama Ki and Keauohana forest reserves in Puna, permitting every day searching in these reserves.
The rules are short-term and can solely be in impact for 2 years, however the state can lengthen them one 12 months at a time. The rule change will take impact on Monday, January 23.
Hawaiian Shores resident Jeff Sargent on Friday urged the board to undertake the rule change.
“There appears to have been a fast enhance in pig numbers within the woodland over the previous few years,” Sargent stated, including that some residents have speculated that the 2018 Kilauea eruption disrupted the pigs’ foraging habits.
“These wild pigs are spreading by residential yards and inflicting very critical injury,” he stated. “Me and my neighbors have ruined our vegetable gardens…regardless that some folks have fenced off areas, these pigs handle to discover a strategy to get by the fences.”
Sargent estimated that the pigs solely induced about $1,000 in injury amongst their instant neighbors, and stated particular person anti-swine measures equivalent to higher fencing are too costly for many individuals to implement on their complete property.
“They cannot discover what they’re in search of within the woods, and that is why they just like the buffet in our neighborhood,” Sargent stated.
After listening to Sargent’s testimony, the board unanimously determined to undertake the brand new rules.
E-mail Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
