European wild boars were introduced to the Islands in the late 18 th century. Pigs with selective appetites prefer certain native plants. Their defenselessness is obvious in the contradiction of terms used to describe the island's vulnerable life forms. . The pig, a secretive, highly adaptive opportunist, seeks and destroys native plant communities without regard for rare or endangered status. Rooting and rutting, digging and degrading, pigs eliminate endemics, and spread and fertilize aliens.
Mosquito bites infect birds with microorganisms causing avian malaria and bird pox.
Hawai'i's native birds, with little or no natural immunity, suffer death and disfigurement. Old songs go unsung. New voices sing a foreign verse. Hawai'i's band is out of tune, and playing out of time.