There is a critical need to manage predation threats to sgcn waterbirds, seabirds and sea turtlesin hawaii we propose to develop a new tool for mongoose control over large and or…

There is a critical need to manage predation threats to sgcn waterbirds, seabirds and sea turtlesin hawaii we propose to develop a new tool for mongoose control over large and or inaccessiblehabitats where current trapping methods are less feasible and or effective we will complementtesting of novel control with a telemetry based analysis of mongoose space use to further improvetrapping and baiting designs at the two largest state wildlife sanctuaries on the island of oahu many species identified in our state wildlife action plan swap as species of greatest conservationneed sgcn are threatened by mongoose predation, including laysan albatross, newell sshearwater, wedge tailed shearwater, hawaiian petrel, band rumped storm petrel hereafter seabird sgcn hawaiian stilt, hawaiian gallinule, and hawaiian coot all federally endangered, hereafter waterbird sgcn and green sea turtle and hawksbill sea turtle hereafter sea turtlesgcn trapping is currently the only tool available to control mongoose in conservation areas inhawaii, since there are not currently any EPA registered toxicants that effectively control mongoose while an important tool, trapping is labor intensive, not feasible over large and or inaccessible areas, and ineffective at preventing immigration of mongoose into the targeted conservation area our proposed project sites in kawainui marsh state wildlife sanctuary and pouhala marsh statewildlife sanctuary on the island of oahu, a previously awarded c SWG in progress at kawainui, F20AP00304 and opportunistic nest monitoring at pouhala have documented high rates ofmongoose predation on nests of waterbird sgcn, despite ongoing mongoose trapping programs both kawainui and pouhala are identified as core wetlands in the federal recovery plan forhawaiian waterbirds, i e , sites that can support large numbers of breeding waterbirds necessaryfor recovery and delisting USFWS 2011 thus, the hawaii swap specifically identifies kawainuiand pouhala as sites that would benefit from improved management capacity enhance resourcesto expand management capacity at existing protected wetland habitats e g , pouhala marsh, kawai NUI marsh dlnr 2015, p 6 25 we propose to develop a new tool for mongoose control to benefit seabird, waterbird, and sea turtlesgcn statewide objective 1 and inform adaptive management of waterbird sgcn at kawainui andpouhala, the two largest state managed wetlands on oahu objectives 2 4 specifically, our project will address the following goals 1 perform field trials to register a new and highly efficacious mongoose control product diphacinonein a fish based sausage bait matrix for use in conservation areas statewide through a contract withusda 2 document and analyze mongoose space use using GPS telemetry to identify movement patternsthat will inform future trap and bait station placement at kawainui and pouhala 3 based on the results of the investigation in objective 2, improve capacity for and efficiency ofmongoose trapping at kawainui and pouhala through procurement of additional traps and updatedtrap placement 4 monitor waterbird nests using automated cameras and compare to previously collected nestmonitoring data 2020 2022 to measure the impact of updated trap arrangement on waterbirdnest success