Longest predator exclusion fence in the nation completed on Kaua‘i

Pono Pacific Land Management, Hawai‘i’s largest private natural resource conservation company, has finished constructing the longest predator exclusion fence in the United States.

The 11,200-foot-long predator exclusion fence on Kauaʻi is located along the perimeter of the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.

Pono Pacific has built a majority of these types of fences in the state. For 22 years, Pono Pacific has been contracted by the state, federal government, private organizations, and landowners to install conservation fencing to protect native species and habitat—building 152,200 feet in conservation fencing for these entities, mostly in rugged and remote terrain throughout the state.

The Kīlauea Point predator exclusion fence will help protect tens of thousands of Hawai‘i’s migratory and native birds from non-native predators such as feral cats and pigs, including three bird species that are federally listed as threatened or endangered: the Newell’s shearwater (ʻaʻo), Hawaiian petrel (ʻuaʻu), and Hawaiian goose (nēnē).

The fence will enclose 168 acres of the refuge and will be tall and robust enough to keep non-native predators from jumping over or entering the protected area.

The design combines the successful peninsula-style fence found at Kaʻena Point on Oʻahu with the improved building specifications of the Nihokū predator proof fence already found on the refuge, which Pono Pacific had previously worked on.

This fence has a curved hood to prevent non-native animals from climbing over, mesh that is small enough to prevent animals as small as young mice from squeezing through, and a skirt that extends underground to prevent animals from digging under it. All materials are marine-grade stainless steel.