Winners of the 2021-2022 Hawai‘i Wildlife Conservation and Game Bird Stamp Art Contest were announced this week by the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). DOFAW would like to thank all the wildlife artists that submitted entries for this year’s contest. A committee reviewed all submissions and two winners were chosen:
Game Bird Stamp Winner – Timothy Turenne. Tim has won twenty-two art stamp contests since becoming a full-time wildlife artist in 2006. Many of Tim’s conservation stamp prints are available for viewing through Artbarbarians.com. Mr. Turenne’s winning submission features the Kalij pheasant, a popular game bird from southern Asia. The Kalij pheasant was brought to Hawaiʻi in 1962, where it was found in forests and thickets, especially the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to western Thailand. Visually the male is larger, at approximately 33 inches long, and are black with a gray belly, while the females are mottled brown. They have a distinct red skin patch around their eyes, and a crest of feathers atop their heads. Their habitat is primarily in the uplands, so they can be readily found on Hawaiʻi’s Big Island, most noticeably within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Conservation Stamp Winner – Michael Bailey. Michael currently resides in Los Angeles where he is a wildlife painter, comic book artist, and children’s book illustrator. A majority of his works are painted in oils, ink, and watercolors. Mr. Bailey was born and raised in the Midwestern parts of the Great Lakes region and is a lover of fly rod fishing. Michael’s winning submission features the mouflon-feral hybrid sheep. Mouflon sheep were introduced to Hawai’i Island in 1957. In the years afterwards, biologists from the State Division of Fish and Game began crossbreeding purebred mouflon rams with feral ewes at Pu’u La’au on Mauna Kea. The hybrid and purebred mouflon sheep were all released throughout Mauna Kea from 1962-1967. Most, if not all, of the sheep currently on Mauna Kea are hybrid mouflon sheep. These animals live in the high elevation slopes of the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes, in what is considered some of the most beautiful upland forests of Hawaiʻi.
These two new stamps will be available for the new 2021-22 hunting season.
The conservation stamp is required on the Hawai‘i State hunting license, and the game bird hunting stamp is additionally required for those intending to hunt game birds. Funds from sales of these stamps go into the State Wildlife Revolving Fund to support wildlife populations and habitat management, and to manage hunting programs in Hawai‘i. Both stamps will be available on July 1, 2021 to wildlife stamp collectors by calling (808) 587-0166 or visiting the Division of Forestry and Wildlife office located at 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325 Honolulu, HI 96813.