The Hawaii Traveler

From the environmental files: did you know that Hawai’i is the Endangered Species Capital of the World?According to the Hawaii Biological Survey, there are more endangered species per square mile on these islands than any other place on the planet. On the list of endangered living things are:

• Nearly 300 taxa of plants
• The O’ahu tree snail
• The Monk Seal
• The Green Sea Turtle (honu)
• 30 species of bird including the Hawaiian ‘Akepa, the Hawaiian Duck, and Hawaiin Goose (nene)
• And many more.

There are heavy, heavy fines for tangling with endangered species of any kind, which begs the question, “What can I tangle with?” The common sense answer is: Don’t fuss with any of the wildlife or plants on Hawaii. Everyone is better off.

Photo of nene by Flickr–Creative Commons, by eye of einstein

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