Kailua-Kona, Hawaii — Hordes of feral cats emerge from the shadows of parked trucks and bushes just as a familiar Subaru Forester pulls into a landfill on Hawaii’s Big Island. They run after the car for a certain meal – a gravy train that may not be around for much longer.
Hawaii County law, which is scheduled to take effect at the beginning of the new year, prohibits the feeding of feral animals on county property. It’s an attempt to Protect local specieslike the endangered goose called the nene, a super-predator introduced to the islands by Europeans in the 18th century.
But the measure doesn’t sit well with many cat lovers, including Subaru driver Liz Swan, who has been feeding feral cats on the Big Island for 33 years.
“I don’t think cats should be exterminated at the expense of nene,” Swan said. “They’re both living things.”
It’s not clear how many feral cats — abandoned pets and their descendants — live on the Big Island. Estimates range into the tens of thousands, with pockets of dense colonies supported by people. Opponents of the ban say it would hamper their efforts to contain the population by trapping and castrating animals — and that hungry cats would then be forced to forage for food.
About 200 cats live at the Kealikihi Transport Station and Recycling Centre, not far from the bustling tourist area of Kona. Swan shows up in the late afternoon every day with water and food, and says she’s never seen Nene anywhere near the dump. Despite living among the litter, the cats there generally appear robust, and most are missing an ear tip, indicating that they have been spayed or neutered.
Biologists say that cats threaten local species directly, by killing them, and indirectly. Food left for cats can attract local animals, bringing them into closer contact with humans. Cat feces can also spread a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, a disease that has killed the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and native birds.
Last year, a Nene man — pronounced “nee-nee” — was struck by a car while crossing a road in Hilo, on the east side of the island, to get to a cat feeding station. The goose’s surviving mate, which also died of toxoplasmosis in 2024, has recently taken on another mate and is nesting in a Hilo park, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources announced this month.
The ministry said a feeding ban in the province would help protect them.
State wildlife biologist Raymond McGuire recently examined nene nesting sites among barren black rock fields near the shopping center at Waikoloa Resort. It’s not their traditional habitat, but he’s seen geese flying for food — at risk of being hit by cars — and last year some nested there.
As he approached, a pair of feline eyes peered out from a crack in the lava rock. The cats came out from their corners, probably thinking it was someone who might be offering food.
McGuire was relieved to see that there were no Nen nearby, but he was frustrated by the evidence the cats were being fed: empty water bowls and aluminum bowls.
He’s a cat owner — “My favorite animal is a cat” — but as a Hawaiian whose love of nature inspired him to pursue conservation work, he believes there’s no place for them as native species struggle to survive.
“There are a lot of birds that my kids will never see that I should see,” he said, referring to local forest birds. “I think about my ancestors and wonder: Are we honoring them well in what we do? Because they took steps to protect them.”
Feral cats are a problem in many places, but Hawaii’s delicate ecosystem is full of species that evolved without mammalian predators, making them particularly vulnerable, McGuire said.
Hawaiian culture is closely linked to Hawaiian animals. Big Island Mayor Kimo Alameda noted that the aumakua, or ancestral spirit guides, can take animal form. He said his family’s umaqua is a shark.
After the County Council passed the measure by a vote of 6 to 2, Alameda decided to allow it to go into effect without his signature. Opponents convinced him that he would harm the cats.
“I had a soft spot for that,” he said. “I felt bad for the cats.”
Alameda said the debate was so controversial that some opponents sent him hate messages.
The mayor said he hoped police would consider law enforcement a low priority. Violations carry fines of up to $50 for a first violation and up to $500 for subsequent violations.
The answer is simple for Makala Kaumoana, a cultural practitioner — someone who works to preserve Hawaiian cultural traditions — on the island of Kauai.
She said trapping, neutering and releasing the cats makes no difference because they are still capable of hunting.
“The cats need to be removed,” she said.
Debbie Cravata, who feeds cats in her West Hawaii neighborhood, wondered why.
“It’s a native species – why would this prevail over a domestic cat that someone got rid of when she was pregnant and had six kittens in the wild?” Cravata said. “Why is this life more valuable than this one?”
Opponents also say the ban may only push feeding efforts underground.
“I won’t let them starve,” Swan said.
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Kelleher reported from Honolulu.