‘Year of the Kahuli’ will honor state’s native tree snails

Gov. Josh Green issued a proclamation declaring 2023 the “Year of the Kahuli,” honoring the colorful native tree snails that have played a significant role in the environment and culture.

Considered the jewels of the forest and revered in Hawaiian cultural history, kahuli, like many native species, are threatened by climate change, predators like rats and cats, introduced invasive snails, chameleons and human encroachment into their original territories.

“A fundamental part of what makes Hawaii so special is the environment around us,” Green said in a news release Thursday. “Many of our plants and animals were here long before people, and that includes our kahuli and this is why it’s so important to do everything we can to save them.”

Green’s proclamation noted how kahuli once had a population of 750 different species, but 60 have gone extinct.

At a snail lab operated by David Sischo of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 40 species of rare native snails from five different islands are kept safe until they can be returned to their forest homes.

The state snail lab is in addition to those at the Honolulu Zoo and Bishop Museum.

“We think of the lab as an emergency room for snails that are on the very brink of extinction,” Sischo said. “We take really good care of them, increase their numbers, and then put them back out on the landscape in protected areas.”

Typically, a population needs to be in the hundreds before researchers consider moving them out, getting them past what Sischo calls the “danger zone of extinction.”

Certain species have an average life span of 20 years, but they take five years to reach maturity, and then only produce one to five offspring each year.

Last year, more than 7,000 snails from the three labs were released into the wild, according to the news release.

Unlike garden snails like the rosy wolf snail, Hawaii’s native snails are critical to the overall health of native ecosystems.

“As go the snails, so do many other species,” Sischo said. “When snail populations decline you can be sure other species of plants and animals are not far behind.”

Of the remaining land snails, 100 or more species will likely go extinct in the next decade without increased research and conservation action.

The Year of the Kahuli will be further celebrated and recognized with a series of events, including the debut of the film “Kahuli” in April, the second annual Kahuli Festival at Bishop Museum in September, outreach activities, art contests and more.