Hawaii tops list of endangered species candidates

By: JAYMES SONG - Associated Press | Tuesday, May 17, 2005 9:43 PM PDT ∞

HONOLULU -- Hawaii again leads the nation with by far the greatest number of plant and animal species proposed for listing as endangered or threatened, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says.

Hawaii has nearly 40 percent of species listed as candidates for protective status. No new Hawaii species were added to the candidate list or removed from it for the past year, leaving the state with 107 of the 286 native plant and animal species on the list.

Hawaii already has more than 300 species protected under the Endangered Species Act, giving the state about a quarter of all endangered species in the United States.

Species in Hawaii face several imminent threats such as habitat destruction, but invasive plants and wildlife present the biggest danger to native species, said Gina Shultz, the endangered species coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Honolulu.

"The species in Hawaii evolved, many without any mammalian predators," she said Monday. "A lot of water birds aren't used to predators such as cats or mongoose or other things."

Wildlife spokesman Ken Foote said another reason is because of the islands' isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

"Because Hawaii is so unique and geographically isolated that it has developed many endemic species, which means these species are found nowhere else in the world but Hawaii," he said. "They're so highly specialized and sensitive that once invasive species come in, such as rats or pigs, it clearly offsets the whole natural balance."

On the Net:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands http://pacificislands.fws.gov

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