The Hawaiian wild cattle are a

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

domestic cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domestication, domesticated, Cloven hoof, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referr ...

introduced at the end of 18th century. Thousands of them are still freely roaming forested areas on the Island of Hawaiʻi. It was listed as "extinct" in ''

The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'' is a major report on the genetic resources of breeds of farm livestock in the world. It was published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ...

'', published by the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

in 2007; it is not among the cattle breeds reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym of the worldwide Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, within the FAO's management of animal genetic resources programme.Domestic Animal Diversity Infor ...

by the

National Animal Germplasm Program The National Animal Germplasm Program, or NAGP, is a program of the United States Department of Agriculture that captures and cryogenically preserves germplasm from plants and animals it considers important to agriculture for the purpose of prese ...

of the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

History

In 1793 and in 1794 Captain

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

gave four bulls and eight cows to Hawaiian king

Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. T ...

. Kamehameha placed a ''kapu'' (Hawaiian

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

), which was not lifted until 1830, on the hunting of the feral cattle . As a consequence by 1846 25,000 cattle were roaming the countryside in addition to 10,000 semi-domesticated cattle. The huge herds were destroying crops and sometimes even killing people so hunting was begun to reduce numbers of animals. In 1832

Kamehameha III Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K� ...

invited

vaquero The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...

s from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, then part of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, to train native Hawaiians in managing the wild livestock, which led to the development of Hawaiian cowboys - paniolos. The trampled dead body of Scottish botanist David Douglas (discoverer of the

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

) was found in 1834 in a bullock pit on

Mauna Kea Mauna Kea ( or ; ; abbreviation for ''Mauna a Wākea''); is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii and second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak is ...

. Those traps were known for catching cattle, but the possibility of murder was considered in this case. Feral cattle contributed significantly to the decline of many plant species in the Hawaiian Islands. Today the Department of Land and Natural Resources' (DLNR) Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is involved in feral cattle eradication, organizing lotteries for special access feral cattle control. The hunt is not easy as animals have, over the generations, become smaller and wild. Similarly the local feral

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

have developed longer legs. Vehicles frequently hit cows congregated on roads enjoying the sun heated

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

. The local legend of "invisible cows" on

originates from these crashes. Road signs warning against cows in darkness or fog are common.

References

External links

* Videos
Another Wild Cattle Huntwild cattle of Maui HawaiiWild Cattle Herd Hawaii
(YouTube) Feral cattle Introduced animals of Hawaii Mammals of Hawaii Cattle breeds Cattle breeds originating in the United States Hawaii (island) {{cattle-stub

History

See also

References

External links