INVASIVE DEER, GOATS ARE EATING AWAY HAWAIʻI'S RANCHLANDS

HONOLULU, Sept. 21 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release:

The first study to measure wild ungulate (axis deer, mouflon sheep, goats, pigs, etc.) grazing on Hawaiʻi rangelands finds forage losses at two-thirds of sites surveyed, with axis deer the clearest driver of decline across ranches on Hawaiʻi Island and Maui.

Led by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR), the research provides the first evidence that grazing by wild ungulates, particularly invasive axis deer, is reducing the forage at Hawaiʻi's working cattle ranches. Published in Rangeland Ecology & Management, the study documented forage losses at 66% of 35 sites s...