Photo Essay: Helping Save Hawaiian Ducks From Extinction

The sun begins to set as Mairin Murphy, left, and Carly Kano set up a trap Monday, July 7, 2025, at the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge in Hanalei. They’re working with the University of Texas El Paso, U.S. Fish & Wildlife and other hui to count Kōloa Maoli, the native Hawaiʻian duck. The plan was to translocate them to Oʻahu. But the low numbers are forcing them to keep the population on Kauaʻi and study the population. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)

The group pivots when trapping enough koloa on Kauaʻi challenges their original plan to move 16 of the endangered waterfowl to Oʻahu. Instead, University of Texas-El Paso biologist technician Mairin Murphy said, “More information on the population, genetics and behavior of koloa needs to be collected before we can successfully begin our translocation. We are … Continue reading Photo Essay: Helping Save Hawaiian Ducks From Extinction