POSTED: 12:11 p.m. HST, Mar 24, 2014
LAST UPDATED: 02:23 p.m. HST, Mar 24, 2014
The bird is an endangered species found only in the Hawaiian Islands. There are more than 2,000 remaining in the wild.
Endangered Hawaiian geese have been spotted in the wild on Oahu for the first time in centuries, a federal agency said Monday.
A pair of nene nested and successfully hatched three goslings at a national wildlife refuge near Kahuku on the North Shore, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
Authorities have been flying nene from Kauai, where the population has been growing rapidly, to Maui and the Big Island by helicopter and Coast Guard plane to establish populations on those islands.
The nene pair at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge near Kahuku found their own way to Oahu and weren't transported by humans, said Ken Foote, a spokesman for the agency. He declined to release further information, saying the agency will talk to media about the geese on Wednesday.
Nene -- the official state bird -- is an endangered species found only in the Hawaiian Islands. There are more than 2,000 remaining in the wild.
Scientists believe the birds are descendants of Canada geese that flew here nearly 1 million years ago.
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