Nene
The nene is the official bird of Hawai’i and is endemic to the island chain. A chunky black-and-white goose, the nene was at the brink of extinction in the 1960s, with just 30 birds left in the wild, due to introduced predators including cats and mongooses. Today, the animals have rebounded, but they face another cat-borne threat: the T. gondii parasite, which is spread by cats and is linked to the deaths of nene as well as endangered Hawaiian monk seals.
