Experts fear mysterious deer may ravage Hawaii

How did 100 deer suddenly appear on Hawaii's Big Island? No one knows for sure. The animals are plentiful on Maui, some 30 miles away, but deer likely can't swim that distance. Wildlife experts think someone may have dropped a few from a helicopter and pushed others out of a boat just offshore. Authorities speculate that hunters brought them to the island to get back at the government for its efforts to reforest ground that had been used for hunting. "They didn't get here by themselves," noted Jan Schipper, who's leading a government-funded project to get rid of the animals before they breed. Scientists are concerned that the deer could irrevocably devastate the island's native ecosystem. Oh, dear.