DLNR News Release – HILO WOMAN CITED FOR FEEDING NĒNĒ IN HILO PARK, May 1, 2024
Posted on May 1, 2024 in Latest Department News, Newsroom
DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR
DAWN CHANG
CHAIRPERSON
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2024
HILO WOMAN CITED FOR FEEDING CATS IN HILO PARK
(HILO, HAWAI’I ISLAND) – DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) officers have cited a 66-year-old Hilo woman after spotting her feeding feral cats in Queen Liliʻoukalani Park and Gardens.
Doreen Torres was issued two citations for violating state endangered and threatened species laws which prohibit the feeding of protected wildlife, since nēnē may eat the cat food.
Officers alleged Torres put out food for feral cats this morning and last Saturday.
DOCARE has stepped up patrols in the park, after it was reported last week that a one-month-old nēnē gosling died there. Toxoplasmosis, a disease carried in the feces of cats, is implicated in the gosling’s death.
Earlier today, the DLNR issued a news release detailing the concerns wildlife biologists have with cat feeding in public spaces, particularly at Queen Liliʻuokalani Park. https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2024/05/01/nr24-48/
Torres is schedule to appear in Hilo District Court on June 21. The charges against her are both misdemeanors.
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RESOURCES
(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)
Photographs – Nēnē Feeding Citations, Queen Liliʻuokalani Park (April 27 and May 1, 2024):
Media Contact:
Dan Dennison
Communications Director
Hawai‘i Dept. of Land and Natural Resources
808-587-0396