Polynesians first arrived in the Hawaiian Islands around 400 A.D. They did have an effect on the native wildlife. They cleared forests to make their farms and villages. The animals they brought with them, such as mongooses, dogs, rats, and chickens, took an even greater toll of native birds because many birds nested on the ground and had no fear of predators. In fact, Hawaii only had one mammal, the Hawaiian hoary bat. The first Hawaiians did hunt the colorful birds to create elaborate feather cloaks and hats that showed a chief's status. Native Hawaiians would capture colorful birds, pluck the needed feathers and release the birds. On January 18, 1778 Captain Cook became the first European to set foot in Hawaii. The biggest effects on the native birds started in 1826, when American whalers started dumping bilge water from their ships, thus bringing mosquitos to the Hawaiian Islands. 35 additional species went extinct after the arrival of whalers. The Americans also introduced guns to Hawaiians, and the pluck and release system of bird hunting was replaced by hunts that would kill up to 1,000 birds. The Kaua'i 'akialoa survived many of the obstacles that made so many Hawaiian birds go extinct because they lived in the higher forests of Kauai where it was too cold for mosquitoes. These honeycreepers would sometimes descend into the lower forests to eat insects. It was during these descents into lower forests that they came into contact with avian diseases brought by chickens and the deadly avian malaria brought by mosquitos. In 1903 the Forest Reserve Act was created to protect the forests and rivers on the island. In 1907, the Hawaiian Territorial Legislature passed a law to protect all native perching birds. In 1967, the Kaua'i 'akialoa was added to the Endangered Species list. From 1968 - 1972, efforts were made to locate the Kaua'i 'akialoa, but none were found. The last official sighting was in 1969. This honeycreeper was officially declared extinct in 2021 by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Could Kaua'i 'akialoa live on the Hawaiian Islands today? Although Jurassic Park is fiction, scientists are working on several de-extinction projects. In fact, in 2003 scientists did bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of wild goat, for 7 minutes before it died, showing de-extinction is possible. The Kaua'i 'akialoa could be a candidate. Scientists would use museum specimens to get DNA to try to bring them back to life. Many efforts have been made in Hawaii since the Kaua'i 'akialoa's extinction. There have been efforts to eradicate rats and invasive species from the environment. Scientists have also been working to control avian diseases and thwart the avian malaria that has affected so many species in Hawaii. If the Kaua'i 'akialoa was brought back from extinction, could it survive in its native homeland of Hawaii?