Things to do / Travel Guide
As with most islands, the three major requirements for distributing the elements necessary for life are water, wind, and wings. These elements are what brought Kauai's unique plants and animals to this remote, tropical island.
This collection of plants and animals adapted to their new island home, finally evolving into an eclectic collection found only on Kauai. Kauai's isolated nature helped cultivate a collection of very gentle species. Very few competitors and predators entered the eco-system, which permitted the plants and animals to blossom in safety, with sparse need of natural defenses. As such, defensive thorns and poisons are not common in the native plants, and Kauai's native animals do not generally possess camouflaging methods.
Visitors can still see plenty of plants and animals unique to the region, such as the native ohia and lehua trees, with their silvery-green leaves and bright red pompon flowers. The hard wood from the ohia tree was used by ancient Hawaiians to carve canoes, temple idols, poi bowls, and spears. These trees range in size from miniature to very large (over 100 feet tall).
Kauai's largest native trees are the koa, which can reach heights of 100 feet tall and trunk diameters of more than 10 feet. The trees' flowers are pale yellow and turn into flat brown seed pods. The red-grained koa wood was used by ancient Hawaiians for surfboards, canoes, dug-out paddles, and spears. The koa tree is now endangered, though, due to its over-harvesting for furniture wood. Koa trees thrive in damp forests between elevations of 1,000 and 6,000 feet.
The nene is Hawaii's state bird. This local species of goose is on the endangered species list, but bird-watchers can see them occasionally throughout Kauai. A more common native bird is the apapane. This bright red honeycreeper can be found all over the island. The birds' startlingly red feathers were used by early Hawaiians to decorate royal garments.
Kauai's only land mammal is the hoary bat. These bats can carve out a livable habitat on land anywhere from sea level up to 13,000 feet high. Sometimes you can see a hoary bat hiding out inside a lava tube, which are spread all over the island.
Nature Spots in Hawaiian Island of Kauai
Nature-Wildlife
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