NAWILIWILI — A live mongoose was caught at Nawiliwili Harbor on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
NAWILIWILI — A live mongoose was caught at Nawiliwili Harbor on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
Mongooses are not established on Kaua‘i, and there are efforts to prevent them from becoming so on island due to their threat to native ground-nesting birds.
Monday morning, the state Department of Transportation Harbors Division reported the sighting of a mongoose at the harbor to the DOA.
DOA staff teamed with the state Department of Health Vector Control Branch and set 15 traps at the harbor Monday. A mongoose was found in one of the traps Tuesday morning, and is currently being safeguarded.
The traps will remain in the area and are being monitored regularly.
There have been previous sightings of mongooses on Kaua‘i, and in 2016 a mongoose was trapped in the cargo area at Lihu‘e Airport.
In 2012, two mongooses were trapped in separate incidences, one at Nawiliwili Harbor and another near a resort in Lihu‘e.
Mongooses are established on O‘ahu, Maui, Moloka‘i and Hawai‘i Island, where they threaten native birds.
Anyone seeing suspected invasive species should call the state’s toll-free Pest Hotline at 808-643-7378.
