🌱 Maui Nui: Crop Monitor

Tracking Axis Deer 🦌 with DLNR & AI

🔍 What You’ll Find In This Issue

• ✅ Community check-in! We revisited conversations from our September 2024 visits to Moloka‘i, Maui, and Lāna‘i, where farmers, ranchers, and community leaders shared insights on axis deer management and its impacts.

• ⏳ History of axis deer in Hawai‘i and what it means for food security in the county.

• 🚁 How could AI help? Discover how we’re using AI to automate invasive deer counts from DLNR aerial surveys and how satellite data could be used to help Maui Nui Venison predict deer locations.

• 💰 MCDOA Shared Opportunities: Apply for Hawai‘i Carbon Smart Program for climate resilience by April 1st! They will be holding an info session March 19th!

✅ Community Check-In:

What are you seeing in your Ahupuaʻa?

In September 2024, we visited communities across Moloka‘i, Maui, and Lāna‘i to understand farmers’ and community members’ perspectives about the impact and management of axis deer. Here are some highlights of what we learned:

• 🎯 Moloka‘i at Uncle Walter’s farm: Antlers adorned the crop fences, symbolizing the ongoing efforts to safeguard harvests from axis deer. We met young apprentices, recognized as some of the island’s most skilled hunters, preserving traditional practices of sustenance and stewardship.

  
  

• 🌿 Lāna‘i at Karen’s school: The number of students coming to class in hunting gear have drastically gone down since Karen started teaching. We also visited the students' food garden, which had a fence being repaired in the hopes of keeping axis deer away.

Photo from Ana M. Tárano at Lāna‘i High & Elementary School’s recently planted food garden.

• 🚧 Maui with Hiroshi from Kula’s Okamura Farm: In the summer of 2022, the farm experienced its most significant damage yet, as axis deer ravaged cucumbers and romaine lettuce under the cover of night. Since then, fencing has proven effective in preventing crop loss from deer grazing.

Photo from Kula’s Okamura Farm of a deer eating a cucumber in August, 2022.

• 🤝 Maui with Kristin at ‘Ulupalakua Ranch: Ranchers on Maui are teaming up with permitted hunters to proactively manage deer populations to protect pastureland and the watershed. When we visited, we also saw one of the community initiatives to fight food insecurity: Holo ‘Ai Coolers, which hold free packs of venison for residents.

Photo from Ana M. Tárano at ‘Ulupalakua Ranch Store & Grill.

• 🏛️ Maui with Zeke Kalua in the Maui County Mayorʻs Office, who leads the County’s Axis Deer Task Force: We learned about the county’s multi-faceted strategy for managing the deer population including tracking/trapping/culling (mostly carried out by DOFAW’s Maui office), hunting incentives like the Landowner Incentive Program, and public awareness initiatives like the “Deerosion” documentary series, which aims to raise public awareness about axis deer’s catastrophic impact on Maui’s ecosystems.

⏳ History of Axis Deer in Hawai‘i:

• Axis deer were introduced to Hawai‘i in 1868 as a gift from India to King Kamehameha V and were released on Moloka‘i [1].

• By 1920, they were introduced to Lāna‘i, and in 1959, they were brought to Maui for hunting [2].

• With no natural predators and a year-round breeding cycle, their population has exploded, leading to widespread ecological and agricultural damage [2].

• In 2021, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center and the Hawai‘i Cooperative Studies Unit at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, estimated the axis deer population on Maui to exceed 10,000 [2]. Their study used data provided by the staff of the Maui office of the Hawai‘i Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), the Maui Invasive Species Committee, and the Leeward Haleakalā Watershed Restoration Partnership.

• The Department of Land and Natural Resources’ (DLNR) DOFAW has been conducting ongoing aerial surveys to track the invasive axis deer population across Maui Nui. Their continued surveys and counting efforts are critical for generating accurate, up-to-date assessments that inform effective management strategies.

Photo from Daniel Dennison (State of Hawaii) on Sept. 14, 2020.

🌱 The Food Security Problem and Opportunity

• 🪸 Overgrazing of native plants by axis deer leads to soil erosion, which increases sediment runoff into the ocean, damaging coral reefs and potentially reducing fish populations [1].

• 🐄 Axis deer’s encroachment of livestock foraging areas is posing a critical threat to ranching on the islands, which is an important economic and food source.

• Food security is impacted as deer overgrazing affects farms, ranches, and traditional fishing practices.

• 🚧 While increased fencing [3], harvesting [4], and culling [5] has helped reduce the impact of invasive deer on farms and private land, managing the deer population across the islands is still of paramount concern for those outside fenced areas and outside the culling program [6].

• 🍽️ With their year-round breeding cycle, their large numbers mean they are a potential source of nutrition for Maui Nui [7].

💻 How Could AI Help?

🚁 Automating Deer Surveys

We are developing tools to help automate invasive deer counts from DLNR’s DOFAW aerial surveys to reduce the load on staff in tracking deer populations.

Outcome: This would reduce manual counting effort, allowing DLNR to prioritize strategic deer population management.

Progress: Since September 2024, we have completed our first milestone of automatically detecting individual deer in aerial videos and counting the number of deer detected in each frame.

🛰️ Predicting Deer Locations

We collaborated with Maui Nui Venison to design a proposal for an AI solution that could predict where deer herds are most likely to be based on the latest NASA satellite observations.

Outcome: This would enable more efficient hunting and management planning operations by identifying the most likely locations to encounter deer each week.

Progress: While the proposal has not yet been funded, we hope to find funding to develop this technology in the future.

💰 Opportunities Shared through Maui County Dept. of Agriculture

We’ll keep you posted on upcoming opportunities from Maui County’s Department of Agriculture. Here is what’s in store this month!

Carbon Smart Land Management Assistance Pilot Program

State of Hawaiʻi, Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is soliciting proposals for financial incentive payments to landowners, lessees, and eligible organizations to implement projects that improve soil health, enhance carbon sequestration, and promote sustainable land management across Hawaiʻi.

Awards range from $25,000 to $100,000.

Eligible Applicants:

• Private landowners and lessees

• Community organizations, hui, and networks

• Schools, businesses, and other entities with land management access

Learn how to apply here!

Key Dates:

• Info Session: March 19, 2025

• Proposal Submission Deadline: April 1, 2025

Examples of Practices Listed In the RFP:

• Reforestation & Agroforestry

• Windbreaks

• Conservation tillage and reduced field pass intensity

• Silviculture and silvopasture

• Improved forages

• Control of invasive species

• Practices embedded in Native Hawaiian Traditional Ecological Knowledge and ecocultural restoration

How to Apply:
Submit proposals via email to Leah Laramee (Leah.J.Laramee@hawaii.gov).

For further details, refer to the full Request for Proposals (RFP).

References

1. Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems. Axis Deer Impacts in Maui County, February 2024. https://globalfutures.asu.edu/food/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2024/03/AxisDeer_Capstone_3.4.24.pdf.

2. Hess, S. C., and S. J. Judge. "Modeling Scenarios for the Management of Axis Deer in Hawai‘i." Pacific Science 75, no. 4 (2021): 561-573. https://bioone.org/journals/pacific-science/volume-75/issue-4/75.4.8/Modeling-Scenarios-for-the-Management-of-Axis-Deer-in-Hawaii1/10.2984/75.4.8.full.

3. Maui County Department of Agriculture. Second Draft of the Maui County Food and Nutrition Security Plan. December 2024. https://www.mauicounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/150862/Second-Draft-of-the-Maui-County-Food-and-Nutrition-Security-Plan.

4. ​Heaton, Thomas. "The Deer Population Is Devastating Maui. Hunters Want To Help." Honolulu Civil Beat, March 17, 2022. https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/03/the-deer-population-is-devastating-maui-hunters-want-to-help/.

5. State of Hawai‘i, Office of the Governor. Sixteenth Proclamation Relating to Axis Deer. August 30, 2024. https://governor.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2408116_Sixteenth-Proclamation-Relating-to-Axis-Deer.pdf.

6. Kubota, Gary. "State says the deer count is down, but farmers and ranchers are still hurting." Maui News, November 13, 2024. https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2024/11/state-says-the-deer-count-is-down-but-farmers-and-ranchers-are-still-hurting/.

7. Maui Nui Venison. Nutrition. https://mauinuivenison.com/pages/venison-nutrient-density.

👀 What would you like to see?

We are happy to provide more detailed information that the community needs on a case-by-case, as approved by the community. Some of the previous values can be divided by your Ahupuaʻa or your zip code. You can email us at atarano@asu.edu to request information.

Have questions?

Visit our website for Frequently Asked Questions or email us at atarano@asu.edu.

Acknowledgements