Pest Management Science, volume 81, issue 1, pages 438-449

Economic estimates of invasive wild ungulate damage to livestock producers in Hawai'i

Stephanie A. Shwiff 1
Carolyn LW Auweloa 2
Kyle Caires 3
Greg Friel 4
Lauren Katayama 5
Zachary Munoz 1, 6
Melissa R. Price 5
Derek Risch 5
Mostafa Shartaj 1, 6
Karen M M Steensma 7
Mark Thorne 3
Ray Zifko 1
Show full list: 12 authors
1
 
USDA APHIS Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center Fort Collins CO USA
2
 
USDA NRCS Pacific Islands Area Range Management Honolulu HI USA
3
 
College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources, Department of Human Nutrition, Food & Animal Sciences University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Honolulu HI USA
4
 
Haleakala Ranch Maui County HI USA
5
 
College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources, Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Management University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Honolulu HI USA
Publication typeJournal Article
Publication date2024-10-03
scimago Q1
wos Q1
SJR0.950
CiteScore7.9
Impact factor3.8
ISSN1526498X, 15264998
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Invasive ungulates (hoofed mammals), including deer, feral pigs, feral goats, and feral sheep, are known to cause damage to agriculture, property, natural resources, and many other commodities. Most of the information regarding the economic impacts of wild ungulates is from North America, where some of these species are native. To evaluate invasive ungulate damage to livestock producers in the Hawaiian Islands, which have no native ungulates, a survey was distributed to livestock producers across the state.

RESULTS

Survey results described how total annual costs are distributed among damage, control, and repairs for survey respondents, who represented a significant percentage of total ranchland acreage across the islands. The estimates, excluding fixed fence installation, revealed an annual cost to livestock producers who responded to the survey of US$1.42 million, which ranged from $3.6 million to $7.5 million when extrapolated to the entire state. The large cost contributors included damage to property, pastureland repair, control costs (excluding fencing), supplemental feed, and predation of calves by wild pigs. Additionally, producers reported spending more than $2 million in upfront fence installation costs. Most of these costs were reported by respondents on the islands of Hawai'i and Moloka'i.

CONCLUSION

Study results revealed substantial damage to state livestock producers due to wild ungulates and are useful in determining an invasive ungulate management strategy that can appropriately aid the most impacted sectors of Hawai'i. © 2024 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

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