Department of Agriculture & Biosecurity

Nov. 14, 2025
NR25-32

HONOLULU – Another live skunk was captured yesterday, this time at Honolulu Harbor. The previous skunk was captured at Hilo Harbor on Nov. 7.

On the morning of Nov. 11, U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff at Honolulu Harbor contacted agriculture inspectors at the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s Plant Quarantine Branch (PQB) and reported a sighting of a skunk at Pier 1.

PQB inspectors were dispatched to the pier and conducted a search of the area but did not locate the skunk. Inspectors set four traps using cat food around the area. Yesterday, dockworkers notified PQB that the skunk was caught in one of the traps. It was humanely euthanized and a test for rabies is being conducted.

On Nov. 7 at Hilo Harbor, PQB staff captured a skunk hiding in the undercarriage of a vehicle by loading the vehicle into a shipping container and setting traps using cat food. As a precaution, Hilo inspectors maintained traps in the area for the past week and no further skunks have been caught. The rabies test result on the Hilo skunk was received yesterday and was negative.

The origin of both skunks are unknown, but the animals are presumed to have hitchhiked aboard cargo ships.

Other recent captures include:

June 2025	Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park, Honolulu
February 2023	Hilo resident captures skunk in mongoose trap
August 2022	Kanahā Pond State Wildlife Sanctuary, Maui
June 2022	Honolulu Harbor
July 2021	Honolulu Harbor
January 2021	Honolulu Harbor
December 2020	Kahului Harbor
August 2018	Maui trucking company site
February 2018	Honolulu Harbor

All previously captured skunks have tested negative for rabies.

Skunks are prohibited in Hawai‘i. They are avid egg-eaters and would pose a threat to Hawai‘i’s native ground-nesting birds if they become established. They inhabit the mainland U.S., Canada, South America, Mexico and other parts of the world. In the U.S., they are recognized as one of the four primary wild carriers of rabies, a fatal viral disease of mammals that is often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal. Hawai‘i is the only state in the U.S. and one of the few places in the world that is free of rabies.

Sightings or captures of illegal and invasive species should be reported to the state’s toll-free Pest Hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378).

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