HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Department of Land and Natural Resources said a live skunk was found in one of their traps on Maui Monday morning.
DLNR said the trap was set at Kanaha Pond State Wildlife Sanctuary to catch feral cats and mongooses in the wildlife sanctuary area.
After being euthanized the skunk was turned over to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
It is unknown where the animal came from however, in January 2021 there were reports of a skunk sighting near Maui Costco Gas Station — an area close to the Kanaha Pond sanctuary.
During the time of the initial sighting, officials set out traps for about three weeks but no skunks were captured.
The recently caught skunk is being tested for rabies, said DLNR.
Honolulu Harbor has been no stranger to live skunks. The creatures were spotted and captured by stevedores in June 2022, July 2021, January 2021 and February 2018.
On Maui, a skunk was captured at Kahului Harbor in December 2020 and one was captured at a trucking company in August 2018.
The previously captured skunks all had negative tests for rabies.