The U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources released a Draft Environmental Assessment on Friday to conduct wide-scale mosquito suppression to stop the spread of avian malaria on Kauai, according to a news release.
What You Need To Know
A Draft Environmental Assessment to conduct wide-scale mosquito suppression to stop the spread of avian malaria on Kauai will be available for comment until July 24
The mosquito suppression technique will be deployed to help save native forest birds who are dying from avian malaria
The technique incorporates a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia; male mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria are released into forests and mate with female mosquitoes, who lay eggs that do not hatch
Small-scale pilot releases of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes are currently taking place on East Maui
