KAILUA-KONA — The days of the Waikoloa nightingales are almost over, as the last 50 of the feral donkeys left in the area are prepared for adoption.
Some of those animals will be at the Aina Hou Animal Hospital in Waimea from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday as the Humane Society of the United States invites community members, past adopters and potential adopters to visit.
The society estimates that there were over 500 animals at one point, the descendents of the “cast-offs from early days of Hawaii coffee and agricultural plantations” as it described them in a press release Wednesday.
The society believes they have found all the donkeys in the herd that numbered over 500 when the program began in late 2010, said Inga Gibson, the Hawaii senior state director for the society.
The previous 450 animals were either adopted by individuals locally, or flown to the mainland for life at a sanctuary. The flight of the 119 animals to the mainland took five hours and led to their dispersal throughout the region.
They have people ready to adopt many of the remaining animals, Gibson said, including several on Maui.
The society includes a screening process for adopters, she said, including making sure the females will not be paired with a fertile male and that they will have friends.
The highly social animals need comrades, she said, and one of the rules they have is there will be a friend, such as another donkey, a horse or a goat.
The application process also requires a “proper space for exercise,” humane treatment, secure fences and other elements. There is no adoption fee.
The program was a response to the activities of the animals, particularly as the Waikoloa area grew. The donkeys were involved in a number of accidents, sometimes as a result of resting on Highway 19.
They were also seen drinking out of swimming pools and water features on the local golf course.