{"id":257166,"date":"2026-06-06T02:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/257166\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T02:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:02:08","slug":"investigation-continues-of-2-nene-killed-by-a-car-in-waikoloa-but-state-says-feral-cat-feeding-is-main-issue-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/257166\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigation continues of 2 n\u0113n\u0113 killed by a car in Waik\u014dloa, but state says feral cat feeding is main issue : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While the Hawai\u2019i Department of Land and Natural Resources continues to investigate the deaths of two n\u0113n\u0113 that were run over by a car in a Waik\u014dloa parking lot, agency officials say the main problem is the state bird being attracted by the food left for feral cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecent counts show approximately 70 n\u0113n\u0113 eating cat food left on the lava rocks,\u201d the state department said in an email to Big Island Now.<\/p>\n

The current deaths took place on June 3. The department\u2019s Division of Forestry and Wildlife received a report about the Native Hawaiian goose at 6:30 a.m. in the parking lot at Queens Marketplace<\/a>, an area where they have been actively working with landowner Alexander and Baldwin to stop cat feeding.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of the two n\u0113n\u0113 ran over in the parking lot at the Queens\u2019 Marketplace in Waik\u014dloa on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (Photo courtesy: Carl Neville)<\/p>\n

Officers with the department\u2019s enforcement division responded to the parking lot, where they spoke with the driver of a vehicle suspected of being involved. The case remains open.<\/p>\n

N\u0113n\u0113 are federally listed as a threatened species and state listed as endangered.<\/p>\n

The Waik\u014dloa parking lot has had a regular n\u0113n\u0113 presence due to the birds being lured in the past by feeding stations set up for feral cat colonies. In 2023, the state directed A&B to remove those stations following complaints that the n\u0113n\u0113 were being negatively impacted by the consumption of cat food and close contact with the felines.<\/p>\n

The Division of Forestry and Wildlife has warned land managers in the past that if n\u0113n\u0113 become habituated to that area<\/a> via cat food, they will get comfortable in parking lots, roads and the shopping center, which are not safe for n\u0113n\u0113.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Hawai\u02bbi Department of Land and Natural Resources said it has counted about 70 n\u0113n\u0113, the state bird of Hawai\u02bbi, in a lava field near a busy shopping center due to the lure of food left for feral cats. (Photo Credit: Department of Land and Natural Resources)<\/p>\n

While those stations have since been removed, feral cat feeding continues in the adjacent lava fields belonging to a separate landowner, the Department of Land and Natural Resources stated in a news release Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith n\u0113n\u0113 flocking season here, DOFAW staff were worried that the n\u0113n\u0113 would again settle in this area and bring others,\u201d the email states. <\/p>\n

It is illegal to feed feral cats on state- or county-owned properties. <\/p>\n

But some animal advocates have criticized these actions, calling the state and county leaders inhumane for leaving vulnerable cats to starve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the Hawai\u2019i Department of Land and Natural Resources continues to investigate the deaths of two n\u0113n\u0113 that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[100195,100196,100197,73098,100198,100199,100200,9,24,63,122,124,57486,123,100201],"class_list":["post-257166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-dlnr","tag-docare","tag-dofaw","tag-endangered","tag-feral-cats","tag-hawaii-county","tag-nene","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-marketplace","tag-queens-news","tag-waikoloa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}