Conservation Contributors

Herbert Cornelius Shipman was a Hilo-based rancher and conservationist whose private efforts laid the groundwork for Nēnē recovery. In 1918 he began keeping a small flock of Nēnē at his family's Kea'au estate (Ha'ena), starting with just two pairs of geese. Over the following decades, Shipman's captive flock grew (reaching 42 birds by 1946) and for many years it was the only captive Nēnē population in the world. In April 1946 a tsunami inundated his property and killed roughly half the flock, prompting Shipman to relocate the surviving geese to his higher-elevation 'Ainahou Ranch for safety. Recognizing the species' dire decline (fewer than 30 wild Nēnē remained by the late 1940s), Shipman worked with territorial officials to launch a formal restoration program. In 1949 he loaned two breeding pairs from his flock to the Hawai'i Board of Agriculture and Forestry, providing the founder stock for a new state-run propagation project at Pōhakuloa. Shipman also sent live Nēnē to the UK - notably a gander shipped in 1951 to assist Sir Peter Scott's Wildfowl Trust in establishing an international captive-breeding colony. His foresight and stewardship are widely credited with preventing the Nēnē's extinction during this critical period.

Paul Baldwin was one of the first scientists to study the Nēnē in depth and to sound the alarm about its decline. In the early 1940s Baldwin worked as a zoologist at Hawai'i National Park, where he surveyed the dwindling Nēnē population and its ecology. He published a landmark paper in 1945 titled "The Hawaiian Goose: Its Distribution and Reduction in Numbers" (Condor 47:27-37), which documented the dramatic contraction in the goose's range and numbers. Baldwin estimated that by 1944 fewer than 50 Nēnē remained in the wild (down from an estimated 25,000 historically) and warned that the species was "one of the world's rarest birds" on the brink of extinction. He identified overhunting (especially during the breeding season) and introduced predators (mongooses, cats, dogs) as key factors in the Nēnē's decline. Baldwin's work in the 1930s-40s laid the scientific foundation for Nēnē conservation; his data and recommendations brought international attention to the goose's plight and spurred Hawaii's authorities to take action. In recognition of his pioneering contributions, later researchers hailed Baldwin as a key figure whose early efforts helped launch the Nēnē recovery program.

Colin Grant Lennox was President of the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry (Territory of Hawai'i) in the 1940s and played a pivotal administrative role in initiating Nēnē conservation. After Paul Baldwin's 1945 report highlighted the species' dire situation, Lennox sought expert guidance on how to save the Nēnē. In 1945 he contacted renowned wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold for recommendations. On Leopold's advice, Lennox recruited biologists Charles and Elizabeth Schwartz from Missouri to conduct a comprehensive survey of Hawai'i's game birds with special focus on the Nēnē's status. Under Lennox's leadership, the Board supported the Schwartzes' two-year field investigation (1946-47) and received their urgent recommendations for Nēnē recovery. He was instrumental in translating those recommendations into action: the Board established a Nēnē propagation program in 1949 (with initial funding of $6,000 from the Territorial legislature) and set aside resources to study and breed the geese. Lennox's foresight and advocacy within the territorial government provided the political will and funding to launch the first official Nēnē Restoration Project, a crucial step that might not have occurred without his influence at the time.

Charles ("Charlie") and Libby Schwartz were a husband-and-wife wildlife biology team whose field studies in the 1940s were instrumental in documenting the Nēnē's predicament and prompting conservation measures. Recruited in early 1946 at the behest of Colin Lennox and Aldo Leopold, the Schwartzes traveled from Missouri to Hawai'i to conduct a wide-ranging survey of the islands' game birds. For nearly two years (1946-1947), they crisscrossed the main islands - "from sea level to volcano top" - studying native and introduced birds. They focused intently on the Nēnē, observing its habitats on the high lava plains, trapping and banding birds, and analyzing stomach contents to determine the goose's diet and ecology. Libby later recounted how Charlie would trek out to collect specimens while she remained in camp "dissecting them on the tailgate of our jeep" and minding their children - illustrating the hands-on nature of their research. In 1949, the Schwartzes published A Reconnaissance of Game Birds in Hawaii (a report to the Territorial Board of Agriculture and Forestry) which delivered a stark warning: the Nēnē was likely to be the next Hawaiian bird to go extinct, and immediate action was needed to save it. They reported the wild Nēnē population to be perilously low (only about 30 birds) and advocated for protective legislation, predator control, and a captive-breeding program. This call to action directly led to the creation of the Nēnē Restoration Project that same year. Before departing Hawai'i, Charles Schwartz also helped facilitate an international lifeline for the goose: at Sir Peter Scott's request, he arranged for Nēnē eggs or goslings to be sent to the Wildfowl Trust in England to establish a backup breeding population. The Schwartzes' groundbreaking fieldwork and persuasive reporting were crucial in kickstarting modern Nēnē conservation, bridging the gap between early warnings and concrete intervention.

J. Donald Smith was the first wildlife biologist hired by the Territory of Hawai'i specifically to focus on the Nēnē and other game birds. A World War II veteran from Minnesota, "Jack" Smith came to Hawai'i in 1948 after the Schwartzes' survey recommended that the Board of Agriculture and Forestry create a new game biologist position. Smith was tasked with leading the nascent Nēnē recovery effort. In 1949 he oversaw the establishment of a Nēnē captive-breeding facility at Pōhakuloa on the island of Hawai'i - a remote, high-elevation site chosen to mimic the goose's natural alpine habitat. There, Smith constructed large predator-proof pens and began rearing geese using the two breeding pairs loaned by Herbert Shipman. By diligently protecting nests and experimenting with diets, he succeeded in breeding the first groups of captive Nēnē. Within a few years the project produced goslings that could be released to boost wild populations (the first small release occurred in 1952 on Hawai'i). During this time Smith also conducted field surveys and estimated that no more than 30 Nēnē still survived in the wild by 1951, which underscored the urgency of intensive management. Smith documented the early progress in a 1952 report, "The Hawaiian Goose (Nēnē) Restoration Program," detailing the propagation methods and challenges. He noted issues like low fertility in the inbred flock and stressed the need to study the species in its natural habitat as a complement to captive breeding. Smith's advocacy for a comprehensive approach led to the first ecological field studies on wild Nēnē (conducted by William J. Elder in 1956-57). Although Smith left Hawai'i in late 1952 to continue his career on the mainland, his impact was lasting. He had jump-started the Nēnē propagation program, demonstrated that captive breeding was feasible, and laid out a roadmap for combining breeding, release, and wildland research. Jack Smith's "tireless dedication," as colleagues later noted, created the template for Nēnē recovery that future biologists would build upon.

Paul Breese was a prominent Hawai'i conservationist and zoologist who became a key advocate for the Nēnē during the 1950s. Breese served as Director of the Honolulu Zoo and was appointed Chairman of the Nēnē Advisory Committee, a group formed to guide the Territory's Nēnē restoration efforts. In these roles, he used his public platform and connections to rally support for the endangered goose. Notably, in 1956 Breese spearheaded a campaign to have the Nēnē named the official bird of Hawai'i - a symbolic move aimed at raising public awareness and instilling pride in the species' conservation. Thanks largely to Breese's enthusiasm and lobbying (with help from the Hawai'i Conservation Council and other civic groups), the Territorial Legislature passed a resolution in May 1957 declaring the Nēnē Hawai'i's State Bird. Breese hoped this recognition would pressure authorities to increase funding for Nēnē recovery. Despite the publicity, territorial agencies in the 1950s were initially reluctant to invest more money into the Nēnē program. Breese therefore turned to national partners: he solicited support from major conservation organizations and federal officials to secure outside funding. These efforts paid off when the U.S. Congress, influenced by advocacy from Breese and others, authorized federal aid for the Nēnē. Starting in 1958, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began appropriating $15,000 per year to underwrite Hawai'i's Nēnē recovery work. Breese himself described the behind-the-scenes efforts needed to obtain these funds, crediting state game chief J. Woodworth for garnering broad conservationist backing for the federal bill. With steady funding assured, the Nēnē propagation and release program was able to continue and expand through the 1960s. Paul Breese's leadership from public outreach to political lobbying was thus crucial in sustaining the early Nēnē initiative at a time when it might easily have foundered due to lack of support. He also kept abreast of husbandry advances (visiting mainland waterfowl facilities and implementing new rearing techniques) to continually improve Nēnē care. Breese's multifaceted contributions earned him recognition as one of the Nēnē's "guardians" in Hawai'i's conservation history.

Sir Peter Scott was an internationally renowned British conservationist and artist who became a champion of the Nēnē in the mid-20th century. The son of Antarctic explorer Robert F. Scott, Peter Scott founded the Severn Wildfowl Trust in Slimbridge, England (today the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) and was keenly interested in saving endangered waterfowl. After learning of the Nēnē's precarious status from the Schwartz report in 1949, Scott offered to help by establishing a breeding colony in the UK as a safeguard for the species. In 1950 a pair of Nēnē geese (from Herbert Shipman's flock) was sent to Scott's Slimbridge refuge marking the start of an international Nēnē recovery effort. Although the first pair produced infertile eggs, Scott persisted. He dispatched his chief aviculturist, John Yealland, to Hawai'i to assist with husbandry at Pōhakuloa and to arrange additional birds for export. By 1951 another Nēnē (a gander) was flown from Hawai'i to Slimbridge to complete a breeding trio, which proved successful. Under Sir Peter Scott's personal care and guidance, the Slimbridge Nēnē flock flourished. The geese bred prolifically in captivity throughout the 1950s and 1960s - so much so that offspring from the Slimbridge line were later sent back to Hawai'i to bolster wild populations. (For example, starting in 1962, dozens of UK-reared Nēnē were shipped to Maui for release in Haleakalā National Park.) Beyond breeding birds, Scott's contribution was also in publicity and expertise. He was a charismatic figure who drew global attention to the Nēnē's plight through his writings and artwork. He welcomed Hawaiian wildlife officials to Slimbridge and shared avicultural knowledge to improve Hawaii's rearing program. Sir Peter even visited Hawai'i in person (in the late 1950s) to confer on Nēnē conservation, underscoring the transcontinental collaboration at play. In 1979, Janet Kear and Andrew Berger dedicated their definitive book on the species to Sir Peter Scott as one of the "enthusiasts responsible for the rescue of the Nēnē from extinction". This honor reflects the high esteem in which Scott's role is held: without the refuge he provided at Slimbridge and his continual advocacy, the Hawaiian Goose's road to recovery would have been far more uncertain.

John Yealland was a British aviculturist who played a behind-the-scenes yet vital part in early Nēnē conservation. As the Curator of Sir Peter Scott's Wildfowl Trust, Yealland was sent to Hawai'i in late 1949 to assist the fledgling Nēnē Restoration Project. He arrived on Hawai'i Island and spent several months (into 1950) working at the Pōhakuloa captive-breeding station alongside Jack Smith. Yealland brought with him valuable expertise in waterfowl husbandry knowledge gained from managing rare geese at Slimbridge. In Hawai'i, he helped design improved rearing pens, advised on diet (for example, introducing tender greens like watercress and thistle which Nēnē proved to relish ), and demonstrated hand-rearing and incubation techniques that boosted gosling survival. His contributions greatly enhanced the productivity of the Hawaiian breeding program in its infancy. Before returning to England, Yealland also facilitated the transfer of Nēnē to the UK. In 1950 he accompanied a pair of captive Nēnē (a gander and goose provided by Shipman) on the journey back to Slimbridge. This pair became the nucleus of Sir Peter Scott's ex-situ breeding flock. (One of the birds turned out infertile, but as noted above, a replacement flown over in 1951 completed a successful trio.) Through John Yealland's hands-on efforts in Hawai'i and the geese he helped procure for Slimbridge, the Nēnē restoration became a transoceanic project. Yealland is less famous than some of his contemporaries, but those in the know credit him with being a crucial "bridge" between the Hawaiian and British conservation initiatives. His work ensured that both the local propagation and the international safety-net population got off to a strong start.

Ah Fat Lee was a Hawai'i-born wildlife technician who became the primary caretaker of the Nēnē breeding program in the post-Territorial era. In 1958, after statehood and the infusion of U.S. federal funds into the Nēnē project, Lee was appointed as the full-time Nēnē Propagation Specialist at the Pōhakuloa facility. He took charge of daily operations at the captive-breeding pens, a responsibility he would carry for roughly two decades. Under Ah Fat Lee's diligent management, the captive flock at Pōhakuloa grew steadily and overcame earlier breeding difficulties. Wildlife experts who visited often noted Lee's intuitive skill with the geese. He implemented improved incubation techniques (such as artificial incubators and the use of broody bantam hens as foster mothers for Nēnē eggs) and refined the birds' diet to increase egg fertility and gosling survival. These efforts paid off in higher reproductive success - for example, the 1966-67 season saw a then-record 84 goslings hatched in captivity. Lee also supervised the gradual release of captive-reared Nēnē back into the wild. The first pen-raised birds were released on Hawai'i in 1960, and as production ramped up, dozens more were freed annually in subsequent years. By 1975, thanks in large part to Lee's propagation work, hundreds of Nēnē had been reintroduced into their native habitat on Hawai'i and Maui. Quiet and unassuming, Ah Fat Lee did not often publish reports, but his behind-the-scenes contributions were immense. Colleagues later noted that he received "scant credit" publicly, even though the Pōhakuloa program under his care was ultimately successful in saving the Nēnē. Dr. Janet Kear and Prof. Berger, in their 1979 monograph, specifically dedicated the book to Lee (along with Peter Scott) in recognition of his crucial role as "head of the propagating station at Pōhakuloa". This acknowledgment by fellow scientists underscores that Ah Fat Lee was one of the true unsung heroes of Nēnē conservation the man whose devoted husbandry produced generation after generation of geese and literally bred the species back from the edge of extinction.

Wildlife artist whose 1964 $3 Federal Duck Stamp featuring Nēnē sold 1.5 million copies, raising funds and nationwide awareness for the species' plight.

Dr. Janet Kear was an English ornithologist and a leading authority on waterfowl who became deeply involved in documenting and analyzing the Nēnē recovery effort. Based at Slimbridge as a research biologist (and later Assistant Director of the Wildfowl Trust), Kear had long followed the plight of the Hawaiian Goose. In the 1970s she partnered with Dr. Andrew Berger in Hawai'i to conduct a thorough review of all Nēnē conservation work to date. The culmination of this collaboration was the book "The Hawaiian Goose: An Experiment in Conservation," published in 1979 (T. & A.D. Poyser, UK). In this scholarly monograph - which Kear and Berger dedicated to Peter Scott and Ah Fat Lee, among others - the authors provided a definitive account of the Nēnē's biology, decline, and rescue. Kear brought to the project her expertise in avian captive breeding and behavior, gleaned from years of managing waterfowl collections. She carefully analyzed the methods and outcomes of the Nēnē propagation programs in Hawai'i (Pōhakuloa) and in England (Slimbridge), comparing techniques and success rates. The book also delved into the challenges of reintroducing captive-bred geese into the wild, and the ecological dynamics of the remaining wild flocks. In the final chapters, Dr. Kear frankly assessed the "experiment" - posing incisive questions about genetics, disease, predator control, and the long-term viability of the Nēnē population. This critical evaluation helped shape subsequent recovery strategies (for example, highlighting the need for genetic diversity and predator management). Aside from the book, Janet Kear contributed to Nēnē conservation through her leadership in the Wildfowl Trust's endangered species programs and her role in the International Wild Waterfowl Association. Her scientific rigor and global perspective ensured that the lessons of the Nēnē - positive and negative - were learned and shared widely in the conservation community.

Dr. Andrew John Berger was an American ornithologist who became one of the foremost experts on Hawaiian birds, especially the Nēnē, during the 1960s and 1970s. Berger joined the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Zoology Department in 1964 as a professor, after a distinguished early career studying bird anatomy and behavior on the mainland. Upon moving to Hawai'i, he developed a special focus on the islands' endemic avifauna and soon immersed himself in research and advocacy for their conservation. Berger was a passionate voice for native birds; he often publicly criticized government policies (and private developments) that threatened endangered species, and he pushed for stronger protections for creatures like the Nēnē. Scientifically, Andrew Berger made lasting contributions through his writings. In 1972 he published "Hawaiian Birdlife," an authoritative book that for many readers highlighted the Nēnē's precarious status and the efforts to save it. He also authored numerous articles on Hawaiian birds, blending meticulous observational data with conservation messages. Berger's most significant contribution to Nēnē recovery, however, came through his partnership with Janet Kear. Together they spent years compiling historical records, field data, and firsthand accounts of Nēnē management. The result was the 1979 monograph "The Hawaiian Goose: An Experiment in Conservation," which Berger co-authored with Kear. In this work, Berger contributed deep knowledge of Hawaii's ecology and the on-the-ground aspects of Nēnē recovery, complementing Kear's waterfowl management perspective. The book's balanced critique - acknowledging successes (e.g. the increase of Nēnē to ~2,000 birds by the late 1970s) but also questioning unresolved issues reflected Berger's commitment to rigorous science in the service of conservation. Not one to shy away from tough conclusions, he emphasized that captive breeding alone would not secure the Nēnē's future without habitat protection and predator control. Dr. Berger's blend of academic research and public advocacy was influential in shaping Hawaii's endangered species programs. Colleagues have noted that his persistent, sometimes outspoken, championing of the Nēnē kept the species in the public eye and pressured agencies to improve their recovery efforts. In short, Andrew Berger provided the scientific insight and moral urgency that helped carry Nēnē conservation into the modern era.

Winston Banko was a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (and later the National Park Service) who became the preeminent historian and archivist of Nēnē conservation efforts. Banko spent years in Hawai'i (based at Hilo and Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park) methodically gathering data on the Nēnē's decline and the measures taken to recover it. By combing through old records, interviewing key participants, and conducting field observations, he compiled the most comprehensive account of Nēnē population history available. In 1978 Banko completed a monumental report, "History of the Nēnē (Hawaiian Goose) in Hawaii, 1778-1949," under the auspices of the University of Hawai'i's Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit. This exhaustive document (and its continuation covering 1950-1978) synthesized everything from early Hawaiian Kingdom records and explorer journals to modern wildlife surveys and captive-breeding logs. Banko's work catalogued the Nēnē's former abundance, its decline to just 30 birds by 1949, and the subsequent results of each year's releases and management actions. In 1979 he also published a comprehensive bibliography of Nēnē references, which became an invaluable resource for researchers. Virtually every subsequent study of the Nēnē has drawn on Banko's meticulous compilations. Winston Banko's analyses did more than record history they informed policy. His data on breeding success, survival rates, and distribution of released birds helped identify what was working and what wasn't in the restoration program. For example, Banko's documentation of low genetic diversity in the initial captive flock influenced later decisions to incorporate wild-caught birds for fresh bloodlines. His tallies of losses to predators underscored the need for predator control at release sites. Banko was also involved in drafting the first official Recovery Plan for the Nēnē (published in 1980), ensuring it was grounded in historical evidence and quantitative data. In the acknowledgments of that plan and other reports, Banko is often credited as the authority on all things Nēnē. In essence, he provided the institutional memory for Nēnē conservation a comprehensive understanding of how the Nēnē had been brought back from the brink. His dedication earned him admiration among peers; the Studies in Avian Biology volume on Hawaiian birds in 1990 was dedicated in part to Winston E. Banko for "laying the foundation" of knowledge on Hawaii's endangered avifauna. Through his painstaking research and factual rigor, Banko ensured that future generations would not repeat past mistakes and would appreciate the hard-won lessons - and successes - of the Nēnē conservation story.