For the first time since the 1700's a pair of endangered Hawaiian geese have started a family in Oahu, Hawaii.
The geese, called nene, have successfully hatched three goslings in the area, KHON2 reported.
"It's very exciting to have them here and to have nested and to have raised goslings in an area where they haven't been in so long is very historic," Annie Marshall, biologist and nene expert told KHON2. "This is the first time that we have seen nene here since westerners started documenting the bird and native wildlife population."
The geese were first brought to the region as part of a project to restore the birds to Hawaii, the Associated Press reported.
The endangered geese's population had dropped down to only about 30 in the 1950s; at this point biologists started to breed the birds in captivity in hopes of saving them from extinction.
Now over 2,000 of the endangered geese can be found on "Kauai, Maui and the Big Island," the AP reported.
"We were hoping, as recovery progressed, that eventually there would be nene on all the main islands where they used to occur," Marshall told the AP. "It's a little sooner than we thought it would happen but it's all part of recovery."
The researchers believe that once the goslings are old enough to fly they will move back to Kauai, KHON2 reported.
Scientists aren't sure what caused the birds' population to start dwindling in the first place, but a number of factors could have contributed.
"The nene geese are impacted by mammal predators that were introduced to Hawaii for various reasons, such as feral dogs and cats, mongoose and rats," fish and wildlife biologist Aaron Nadig told KOHN2.
The researchers hope in the future more birds will return to Oahu.
"Nene on Oahu is exciting progress for, and an expected part of, the recovery process for this endangered bird," Barry Stieglitz, Refuge Supervisor for the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex told KOHN2. "Historically, nene occurred on all or most of the major Hawaiian Islands before and during Polynesian colonization. We hope that one day, nene populations will once again occur on all the major Hawaiian Islands."
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