Abstract
In this paper we answer the question in the title with a negative, not yet, not in the past or at current levels of management. We provide evidence that past efforts to save the Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis), commonly known as nene, have effectively prolonged the extinction process, but potent limiting factors in its environment are still active and inhibiting recovery. As early as 1864, naturalists warned that the nene was on the brink of extinction (Baldwin, 1945) but, through the intensive rearing and release programmes some 500 nene are currently living in the wild on three of the larger Hawaiian islands, Hawaii, Maui and Kauai (Black et al. 1991). When restocking began in 1960, fewer than 30 nene remained only on the island of Hawaii. In 1962, the first set of nene was released on Maui and, in 1982, a hurricane liberated 12 captive nene from a private collection on Kauai.
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References
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Black, J.M., Banko, P.C. (1994). Is the Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis) saved from extinction?. In: Olney, P.J.S., Mace, G.M., Feistner, A.T.C. (eds) Creative Conservation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0721-1_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0721-1_22
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