DAB – News release on skunk captured at Hilo Harbor

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

JOSH GREEN, M.D.

GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & BIOSECURITY

ʻOIHANA MAHIʻAI A KIAʻI MEAOLA

SHARON HURD

CHAIRPERSON

KA LUNA HOʻOKELE

DEAN M. MATSUKAWA

DEPUTY TO THE CHAIRPERSON

KA HOPE LUNA HOʻOKELE

LIVE SKUNK CAPTURED AT HILO HARBOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                       

Nov. 10, 2025

NR25-31

HONOLULU – A live skunk was captured at Hilo Habor last Friday, Nov. 07, after two separate people from a shipping company reported seeing a skunk around Pier 1 early Thursday morning. Agriculture inspectors from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s Plant Quarantine Branch (PQB) in Hilo 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. Inspectors asked the dockworkers to move the vehicle into a shipping container where they set traps using cat food and closed the container. PQB staff returned to the container Friday 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 have been deployed throughout the container yard.

The captured skunk was humanely euthanized for rabies testing.

The origin of the skunk is unknown, but is presumed to have hitchhiked aboard a cargo ship. Skunks have previously been spotted and captured by stevedores at Honolulu Harbor in February 2018, January 2021, July 2021 and June 2022, 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.

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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Media Contact:
Janelle Saneishi
Public Information Officer
Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity
Phone: 808-973-9560
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://dab.hawaii.gov/