METHODS FOR POPULATION CONTROL: A CASE STUDY ON THE AXIS DEER OF MAUI ISLAND, HI by Elena Rubino A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Energy and Environmental Policy Spring 2014 Copyright 2014 Elena Rubino All Rights Reserved METHODS FOR POPULATION CONTROL: A CASE STUDY ON THE AXIS DEER OF MAUI ISLAND, HI by Elena Rubino Approved: ______________________________________________________________ Christopher Williams, Ph.D. Professor in charge of the thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: ______________________________________________________________ John Byrne, Ph.D. Chair of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Approved: ______________________________________________________________ Babatunde Ogunnaike, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Engineering Approved: ______________________________________________________________ James G. Richards, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank: Christopher Williams, Ph.D. for his patience and advice that helped me through the research and writing process. Lado Kurdgelashvili, Ph.D. and George Parsons, Ph.D. for their expert quantitative modeling guidance and for their thorough proofreading. All of the members of Maui Axis Deer Working Group who helped me make contacts throughout Maui, volunteered their time to interview with me, and provided me with access to the necessary government documents. The Maui Now and The Maui News for publicizing my residential survey. Ashli Bottino, Stephanie Durakis, and Nikki Ross for helping me stuff hundreds of envelopes for my residential survey work. This manuscript is dedicated to: My parents for providing unlimited moral support. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 1.1 The Axis Deer Problem of Maui, Hawaii ....................................................1 1.2 Objectives of this Study .............................................................................12 2 CONTROLLING AXIS DEER POPULATIONS ...........................................14 2.1 A Background on Population Management ...............................................14 2.2 Controlling Ungulate Populations..............................................................15 2.3 Wildlife Management on the Hawaiian Islands .........................................22 2.4 Maui Axis Deer Population Control ..........................................................25 2.4.1 Attitudes Towards Axis Deer Control in Maui .................................25 2.4.2 Maui Axis Deer Population Control Methods ..................................28 3 COMMERCIALIZED HARVESTS ................................................................40 3.1 Commercialized Harvest Background .......................................................40 3.1.1 What is A Commercialized Harvest? ................................................40 3.1.2 Conflicts with the North American Model for Wildlife Conservation .....................................................................................44 3.2 Current International Examples of Commercialized Harvests ..................48 3.2.1 New Zealand .....................................................................................48 3.2.2 Australia ............................................................................................53 3.3 A Commercialized Harvest in Hawaii .......................................................56 3.3.1 The United States Department of Agriculture’s Requirements ........56 iv 3.3.2 Molokai’s Commercialized Axis Deer Harvest ................................58 3.3.3 Creating a Commercialized Axis Deer Harvest on Maui .................67 4 SURVEY RESEARCH: ATTITUDES TOWARDS POPULATION CONTROL AND A VENISON INDUSTRY .................................................81 4.1 Literature Review.......................................................................................81 4.1.1 Understanding Attitudes about Wildlife Management Using Surveys ..............................................................................................81 4.1.2 Web-based Surveys ...........................................................................88 4.2 Survey Design, Implementation, and Data Collection...............................90 4.2.1 Business Survey ................................................................................90 4.2.2 Hunter Survey ...................................................................................94 4.2.3 Resident Survey ................................................................................95 4.3 Survey Results and Discussions.................................................................97 4.3.1 Business Survey ................................................................................97 4.3.1.1 Hunting Guide Responses .....................................................99 4.3.1.2 Other Business Responses ..................................................108 4.3.2 Hunter Survey .................................................................................118 4.3.3 Resident Survey ..............................................................................140 4.3.3.1 Only Hunters Filter .............................................................157 4.3.3.2 Only Non-Hunters Filter .....................................................159 4.3.4 Synthesizing the Hunter and Resident Surveys ..............................166 5 MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS: POPULATION CONTROL AND A VENISON INDUSTRY .............................................................................181 LITERATURE CITED ....................................................................................................184 Appendix A BUSINESS SURVEY ....................................................................................188 B HUNTER SURVEY ......................................................................................217 C RESIDENT SURVEY ...................................................................................229 D IRB APPROVAL LETTERS .........................................................................243 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Breakdown of responses by business type ........................................................98 Table 2. Breakdown of contacted businesses versus those that responded .....................98 Table 3. Number of answers per scale score and average scale scores of various control methods by hunting guides .................................................................106 Table 4. Number of answers per rank and average rank of various control methods by hunting guides ............................................................................................107 Table 5. Number of answers per scale score and average scale scores of various control methods by hunters .............................................................................128 Table 6. Number of answers per rank and average rank of various control methods by hunters ........................................................................................................129 Table 7. Regression results for respondents who hunt axis deer more than 30 days in two years ..........................................................................................................136 Table 8. Correlation between select hunter variables ....................................................139 Table 9. Number of answers per scale score and average scale scores of various control methods by residents ...........................................................................151 Table 10. Number of answers per rank and average rank of various control methods by residents ......................................................................................................151 Table 11. Regression results for respondents who are interested in purchasing axis deer meat .........................................................................................................156 Table 12. Number of answers per scale score and average scale scores of various control methods by non-hunter residents ........................................................166 Table 13. Number of answers per rank and average rank of various control methods by non-hunter residents ...................................................................................166 vi Table 14. Number of answers per scale score and average scale scores of various control methods by all residents and hunters combined ..................................171 Table 15. Number of answers per rank and average rank of various control methods by all residents and hunters combined ............................................................172 Table 16. Regression results for all resident and hunter respondents combined who believe that deer populations should be either decreased or greatly decreased. ........................................................................................................176