Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer

The National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC), located in Madison, Wisc., assists state and federal agencies in wildlife health related issues. The National Wildlife Health Center is the only federal institution dedicated to understanding the role of wildlife health in conservation and public health. The Honolulu Field Station was established to serve state and federal agencies in Hawaii and the Pacific. The Honolulu Field Station is staffed by a wildlife disease specialist and a biological technician.

The National Wildlife Health Center was established in 1975. The Honolulu Field Station was established in 1992. The Honolulu Field Station is based in Honolulu, Hawaii, but has operated in many islands and archipelagoes throughout the Pacific Ocean.

Three factors drive wildlife populations: Recruitment, immigration/emigration, and mortality. The Honolulu Field Station provides technical assistance and applied research to elucidate causes of wildlife mortality and morbidity (illness). We work closely with biologists and managers to identify wildlife health issues that impact populations and strive to find solutions that assist in conservation and management of wildlife resources. We have projects involving a variety of taxa and ecosystems.

Because of its isolation, Hawaii has evolved a unique flora and fauna that has lost a lot of its innate defenses against more aggressive organisms imported from overseas. As a result, invasive animals and plants are major factors responsible for displacing or eliminating native species. Microbes such as viruses and bacteria are also invasive, and viral and parasitic diseases are suspected of driving certain species of native birds to extinction. The Honolulu Field Station is working with wildlife managers to determine the impact that micro- organisms and other mortality factors have on wildlife populations and what we can do about them.