How does hunting an invasive species help the ecosystem?Updated 3 months ago

Axis deer are not native to Hawaiʻi, which means they have no natural predators and their populations can grow exponentially. Also, they can be incredibly damaging to native plant and animal species that have not co-evolved with browsing ungulates. In the specific case of Mauiʻs emerging populations of Axis deer, their invasion stage being somewhere between establishment and spread, any management has a short term positive effect. Ensuring our work is an ecological benefit in the long term is why we developed highly accurate survey methods and are working to scale and grow to catch up to population growth. Check out our Mission page for more info.