Department of Agriculture & Biosecurity

Nov. 28, 2025
NR25-35

HONOLULU – A second skunk was captured this month in Hilo by agriculture inspectors from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB).

One of DAB’s Plant Quarantine Branch (PQB) inspectors in Hilo received a second-hand report from a stevedore at Hilo Harbor yesterday that his relative saw a skunk that morning on Kanoelehua Avenue and tried to run it over but missed. The person said he saw the skunk run under a fence at the Hilo shipyard. PQB inspectors immediately began searching the area, spotted the skunk and used a net to capture the animal.

The origin of the two Hilo skunks is unknown, but due to the locations of the sightings, it is presumed both hitchhiked aboard cargo ships. It is also unknown if both skunks arrived together or if these are separate incidences.

On November 6, Hilo PQB received two reports of a skunk from a shipping company at Pier 1 at Hilo Harbor. Agriculture inspectors from PQB were dispatched to the pier at about 8:15 that morning.

In one of the reports, dockworkers apparently tried to barricade the animal near cement pilings, but the animal had escaped before inspectors arrived. The other report indicated that a skunk had taken refuge in the undercarriage of a vehicle on the dock and although the skunk was visible, it was not accessible at the time. The vehicle was enclosed in a shipping container where traps were deployed. PQB staff returned to the container the following morning and found the skunk in the trap. Staff conducted further surveys in the area but did not find any other skunks. As a precaution, additional traps were deployed throughout the container yard for at least a week and none were caught.

Both skunks were humanely euthanized for rabies testing. Tests for the skunk captured on November 7 were negative for rabies. Results for the skunk captured yesterday are pending.

Skunks have previously been spotted and captured by stevedores at Honolulu Harbor in February 2018, January 2021, July 2021 and June 2022, October 2024 and in June 2025, a skunk was captured at Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park, which is adjacent to Honolulu Harbor.

On Maui, a live skunk was captured at Kahului Harbor in December 2020 and one was captured at a trucking company in August 2018. Also on Maui, the Department of Land and Natural Resources captured a skunk at Kanahā Pond State Wildlife Sanctuary in August 2022. In February 2023, a Hilo resident caught a skunk in a mongoose trap. 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. More information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is available at: https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/index.html

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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