---
title: "64 Laysan Albatross eggs destroyed!  Feral pigs wreak destruction before a predator-proof fence is completed on Kauai"
---

# 64 Laysan Albatross eggs destroyed!  Feral pigs wreak destruction before a predator-proof fence is completed on Kauai

*![Feral pig attack USFWS](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/Feral_pig_attack_USFWS.jpg)  
A feral pig approaches an incubating Albatross at night, trail camera photograph from the United States Fish and Wildife Service*

 The [Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge](https://acap.aq/latest-news/1654-acap-breeding-site-no-63-kilauea-point-national-wildlife-refuge-home-of-a-laysan-albatross-population), based on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, has reported on its Facebook page that this season no less than 64 breeding attempts by [Laysan Albatrosses](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/laysan-albatross-phoebastria-immutabilis) *Phoebastria immutabilis* have failed due to attacks by feral pigs *Sus scrofa domesticus*.

 “We are heartbroken to share that 64 mōlī [Laysan Albatross] eggs were crushed or eaten by pigs on [Nihoku](https://www.nihoku.org/) beginning on 22 December.  Trail cameras documented the pigs, and we were alerted of the events by our partners the next day.  In collaboration with [Pacific Rim Conservation](https://pacificrimconservation.org/), we mobilized quickly to conduct pig removal, but the damage was already done.  Only three eggs remain on Nihoku, all of which are enclosed in the current 7-acre predator-proof fence.  We have been working on expanding the fenced-in area because we know these specialized fences are highly effective in protecting ground-nesting seabirds from predators, including pigs.”

 *![Kilauea Point Laysan Ad wth chick 20 21 Jacqueline Olivera](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/Kilauea_Point_Laysan_Ad_wth_chick_20_21_Jacqueline_Olivera.jpg)  
A Laysan Albatross and its chick in the refuge during the 2020/21 season.  The original Nihoku fence is visible behind, photograph by Jacqueline Olivera*

 “It is devastating to lose so many eggs just months before the scheduled completion of the new 168-acre [68-ha] perimeter predator-proof fence.  However, it is also assuring to know that next year’s Nihoku colony of nesting mōlī will have over 2 miles [3.4 km] of fence protecting them from future attacks.”

 In a follow-up the national refuge writes “Nihokū is the place name for the land between Kīlauea Point and Kāhili, sometimes referred to as Crater Hill.  Located within Nihokū is a 7-acre parcel of land completely enclosed within a predator-proof perimeter fence.  All the eggs in this parcel were protected.  Currently a much larger perimeter fence enclosing all Nihokū is being constructed. All our predated eggs were located inside the uncompleted fence but outside of the old 7-acre protected area.”

 ![Fence 2022 PRC](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/Fence_2022_PRC.jpg)*The new fence going up, photograph from the Pacific Rim Conservation*

 As well as attacks by pigs, feral cats *Felis catus*have killed Laysan Albatross chicks within the refuge in the past ([click here](https://acap.aq/news/latest-news/2043-feral-cats-are-suspected-of-killing-22-laysan-albatross-chicks-on-hawaii-s-kauai-island?highlight=WyJraWxhdWVhIl0=)).  Domestic dogs *Canis familiaris* running loose on Kauai have also killed albatrosses from time to time ([click here](https://acap.aq/news/news-archive/60-2013-news-archive/1595-curb-that-cur-yet-more-laysan-albatrosses-are-killed-by-dogs-running-wild-on-kaua-i)).  The new fence will keep out cats and dogs (and rodents and [mongoose](https://acap.aq/news/news-archive/57-2012-news-archive/57-are-kauais-laysan-albatrosses-now-at-risk-to-a-new-alien-predator-the-indian-mongoose?highlight=WyJtb25nb29zZSIsImthdWFpIiwia2F1YWkncyJd)), as well as pigs.  Read more about the incomplete predator-proof fence [here](https://acap.aq/latest-news/4235-a-new-predator-proof-fence-will-protect-laysan-albatrosses-in-the-kilauea-point-national-wildlife-refuge-hawaii).

 *John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 24 January 2023*