A controversial idea to fight invasive species.......

Pantheraman said:
I myself also have a potentially controversial idea on how to control at least two of Hawaii's invasive species. Those being the feral pigs and Axis or chital deer, at least on the island of Molokai, Hawaii.

Now in Hawaii, you can hunt both of these animals as a way to control their numbers, but unfortunately, it seems this has given people the incentive to keep these animals in Hawaii. Despite this, hunting will continue to be practiced. But I was thinking that in this case, the humans could use help from another hunter: the dhole (Cuon alpinus).

I chose the dhole because there wouldn't be enough room for tigers in Hawaii (duh) and leopards, while adaptable, are also generalists that don't just stick with medium-sized ungulates, granted those make up most of their diet. They feed on small mammals and birds as well, and that could have a negative impact on native species.

Dholes, on the other hand, are more like specialists, hunting small and medium-sized prey when available, and when it comes to human safety, not a single person has ever been attacked by dholes, so that's a plus.
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Great Argus said:
Introducing a fairly large pack-hunting canid to highly populated islands doesn't exactly sound all that safe, regardless of the Dhole's current track record.
Also I don't think I'd quite consider feral pigs and Chital medium, they're a bit more on the large size. Besides you mentioning that the Dhole will take small prey when available, which was your reason for not using leopard.

A further drawback to this idea would be the Dhole's inclusion as an injurious wildlife species by the USFWS, and thus attempting to do anything in regards to this would require a lot of bureaucratic hoops and an almost certain decline.
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Actually, dholes already live in Java, an island with 145 million people on it. (I know most of them are in cities but it also means quite of few people live in the rural areas).

True I did say that, but every study available shows dholes prefer hunting ungulates over anything else, and because of their pack behavior, they're less likely to hunt small prey than leopards.
 
Maguari said:
Biological control using actual animal predators is an even more risky business than using pathogens, particularly on islands - if you're not familiar with the story, the rarity at best and extinction at worst of a large number of Partula snail species is directly related to the introduction of the predatory snail Euglandina rosea in an attempt to control introduced Giant Land Snails in Polynesia. They found Partula a much easier meal.

Introducing a predator like Dhole to Molokai would be almost certain to have unexpected negative effects on native species.
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I actually wasn't familiar with the story. But I see your point.
 
Pantheraman said:
Actually, dholes already live in Java, an island with 145 million people on it. (I know most of them are in cities but it also means quite of few people live in the rural areas).

True I did say that, but every study available shows dholes prefer hunting ungulates over anything else, and because of their pack behavior, they're less likely to hunt small prey than leopards.
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And Java is a much larger island than Molokai with lots of large native predators.
 
birdsandbats said:
You know how mongoose got to Hawaii, right? And the problems they cause? Dholes would be the exact same situation.
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Yes, I am familiar with that. But are you sure it would be the same with dholes?

That was a bad situation where they introduced something that just so happened to love eggs more than rats. (Actually, they don't even eat rats). Regardless of where they live, dholes prefer hunting ungulates over anything else. If you're a pack hunter, you can't exactly live on things like birds full time. (And don't worry, this is the only time I'm even remotely open to something like this.)
 
Pantheraman said:
Yes, I am familiar with that. But are you sure it would be the same with dholes?

That was a bad situation where they introduced something that just so happened to love eggs more than rats. (Actually, they don't even eat rats). Regardless of where they live, dholes prefer hunting ungulates over anything else. If you're a pack hunter, you can't exactly live on things like birds full time.
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But, in a new environment nothing like its native land, would it still hunt ungulates or move to a different food source? It's impossible to know, and I think the second is likely.
 
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