Family of Pet Pigs Eating Invasive Plants on Golf Course Killed By Poachers — Hawaii Country Club

(Photo : Brittany Sawyer / Unsplash)
Hawaii Country Club is not happy about poachers killing their pet pigs.

Poachers slaughtered the family of pet pigs that eat the invasive plants on the golf course at Hawaii Country Club. Some of the piglets were killed in February, while the rest were killed this week.

Hawaii Country Club Pet Pigs

A mother and her eight piglets began wandering the golf course more than three months ago, and they quickly gained notoriety. Golfers watched them develop while defending them from golf carts and other hazards on the course.

According to the Club's managers, poachers in the area have long been a significant problem.

When it came to cleaning, the pigs were crucial because they consumed the invasive plants found on the golf course.

Manager Tom Berg stated that this is not the first time that unlicensed hunters have killed their approved animals and that they are now seeking heavier penalties for them.

There are trespassers seen, according to Berg, who believe they are doing the country club service. However, because the country club provided the animals with a haven, the poachers are not eliminating any alien species. Neither the nearby farm nor the golf course itself were harmed by the pigs.

This follows a second occurrence in February in which five piglets perished. The four survivors of the incident died this past weekend.

Beloved Residents

Mitchell Ortiz has been a golfer and a member of Hawaii Country Club for a very long time. The pigs are played with and fed by golfers. According to Ortiz, the pigs were there on the golf course before the players ever arrived, and the golfers liked having them around.

Management notes that in addition to having a permit and requesting permission from the landowner to enter the area, these hunters must also plan safe times to shoot their firearms.

Many golfers, he claimed, can hear gunshots from hundreds of feet away.

Berg said that the country club is caring for more than just pigs, as it also has some ducks and goats. He claimed that there are rules in place to safeguard these so-called "invasive species."

Berg notes that the pig shootings are acts of animal cruelty and that this is not a hunter's kuleana (responsibility). Many animals, even those that seem wild, may actually be tamed and should be left alone, KITV4 reports.

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Targeted by Poachers

Berg claims that in February of this year, he came face to face with hunting dogs multiple times when they were being turned out on the site to corral the litter. He adds that the course has previously been a target.

A cherished peacock was slain over the summer, and according to Berg, several local animals have turned into the top targets for the poachers.

Groundskeepers and visitors saw two armed men emerge from the brush and shoot all eight piglets on February 21 after putting dogs onto the course, Club + Resort Business reported at the time.

Hunting on Private Lands

On privately owned land, game animals may be hunted all year long with the landowner's consent and the current State of Hawaii hunting license. The landowner sets the fees for hunting, the approved hunting equipment, and other restrictions and regulations for hunting game mammals on private land, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.