Happy Earth Day! Called the nene for the sound it makes, the endemic Hawaiian goose (known also as the nene), is the state bird and RAREST goose in the world.
It's estimated that 25,000 birds inhabited the islands of Hawaii before Captain Cook arrived in the 1770s. By the mid-1900s they had disappeared from the other islands, and only 30 remained on the Big Island. In 1967 the nene was declared endangered. Thanks to recovery efforts including breeding in captivity and release to the wild, the nene population is now up to about 3000 across Hawaii (the Big Island), and has been reintroduced successfully to Kauai and Maui. Last year the nene goose was upgraded from “endangered” to “threatened” status. It's likely that nene will always need some support and intervention as human introduced predators, competitors, and changes to their habitat across the islands are too much for the nene goose to overcome without assistance.
The unique Hawaiian nene goose has evolved to life on our islands. Unlike other geese, nene seldom swim (and have only partial foot webbing), do not migrate (and have proportionally smaller wings than other geese), and have evolved to life on rocky lava fields (with longer toes and extra foot padding). While they have been tracked flying across the Big Island, they spend most of the time on the ground with less flight than typical for geese, they mate on land, and they have adapted to nesting on the ground rather than on watery shore lines. Nene are herbivores that like to nest in a kipuka -an area under a solitary shrub in a barren lava field.
Nene love grazing on golf courses! So please heed the slow speed limit as you drive within our Mauna Lani Resort or on the golf courses, and keep your eyes open for slow-walking nene geese. You may also see nene geese in Volcanoes National Park. The park participates in monitoring the nene, and will post signage during mating and nesting season warning park visitors to drive slowly along the park roads, and marking off nesting areas so that nests are not disturbed.
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The Fairways is a gated community of town homes in Mauna Lani Resort. Here at Hale O' Honu'ea, we have a keyless entry lock. You will receive the gate code as well as your personal front door entry code 7-14 days prior to check-in, after your final payment is received. You will also receive a pdf guide with your full check-in instructions for easy printing or saving to your mobile device during your stay.
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Many of the mainland flights land before our check-in time. This is the perfect opportunity to head down to Kona for lunch (if you're flight is really early) or shop for your vacation supplies. For any of these recommendations we suggest you check their current hours on the web. Keep in mind that groceries and sundries generally cost more than on the mainland, and that the state of Hawaii has banned the use of plastic bags. Hale O' Honu'ea provides a supply of reusable cloth
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Some would argue that Ironman put Hawaii on the map, but there are many other multi-sport events offered on the Big Island. We have events all year for the traveling athlete to experience. Here's just a few for the month of March:
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