In 1868, the Hong Kong government gifted Hawaii’s King
Kamehameha V eight axis deer. These animals, originally from South Asia, were
strikingly beautiful. Their honey-colored coats were covered with small white
spots. However, they did not arrive on the island of Maui until much later, in
the 1950s. They were brought there for recreational hunters.
More than a century after their arrival in Hawaii, an
estimated 60,000 axis deer now roam the islands of Lanai, Maui and Molokai.
Moving in herds, th...
