KAILUA-KONA — A live skunk was found Aug. 30 in a container at a trucking company on Maui.
Workers at the company in Kahului were unloading a container of ceramic tiles when they smelled an odor and thought they saw a critter in the container, the state Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. The workers quickly closed the container and called agricultural inspectors at the department’s Maui Plant Quarantine Branch.
Inspectors were dispatched to the company and set two traps in the container overnight and the apparent stowaway was found in one of the traps on Friday morning, the state said.
The skunk has been identified as a striped skunk weighing about 5 pounds. The skunk was sent to Oahu Tuesday morning and is being tested for rabies. Results of the test are expected in a few days.
“We appreciate the quick reaction of the trucking crew in containing the animal and contacting HDOA inspectors,” said Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, Board of Agriculture acting chairperson. “Had the animal escaped from the container, it would have been a much larger problem and we are grateful for their awareness and cooperation.”
In February, a live skunk was captured by stevedores at Pier 1 at Honolulu Harbor. That was the first recorded capture of a live skunk in Hawaii.
Skunks are prohibited in Hawaii and are only allowed by permit for research and exhibition in a municipal zoo. Skunks inhabit the U.S., Canada, South America, Mexico and other parts of the world. They are also one of the four wild animals considered to be the primary carriers of the rabies virus, a fatal viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. and one of the few places in the world that is rabies free.
Sightings or captures of illegal and invasive species should be reported to the state’s toll-free Pest Hotline at 643-PEST (7378).