© The Associated Press / Hawaii Department of Agriculture
In this July 5, 2011 photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, Keevin Minami, Plant Quarantine Inspector, HDOA, left and Dwain Uyeda, Reptile Supervisor, Honolulu Zoo, right, examine a 9-foot boa constrictor in Honolulu. Long kept out of Hawaii’s paradise, snakes are increasingly slithering into the islands, posing a grave danger to tropical birds, colorful plants and the vibrant environment that draws millions of tourists to the state each year.
Hawaii has been largely successful in preventing snakes from entering the island paradise over the years and avoiding the grave danger they present to tropical birds, colorful plants and the vibrant environment that draws millions of tourists to the state each year.
But the recent capture of escaped pet snakes - illegal in Hawaii - and the infestation of Guam by brown tree snakes, which could easily make it here via cargo ship, have alarmed wildlife and agriculture officials.
Without any natural predators, authorities say it wouldn't take much for snakes to take root and multiply, potentially killing off endangered birds and flowers that make the islands special. Hawaii, home to more endangered species per square mile than anywhere else in the world, could potentially face the same fate as Guam, where brown tree snakes overran the island following World War II and wiped most birds from the skies.
"It has a high potential to be devastating to Hawaii," said Earl Campbell, assistant field supervisor for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "I would look at Guam as the template for what could happen in a range of tropical Pacific Islands that have no snakes."
Hawaii is so serious about keeping snakes out that the fine for possessing an illegal animal can reach $200,000 and up to three years in prison. But snake owners are granted amnesty if they willingly turn their pets over.
Comment: Don't paint the blue helmets green without reading this.