Is The Mongoose On Kauai?

Is The Mongoose On Kauai?
By Doug Porter
Since the late 1800s when the mongoose was introduced to the other Hawaii islands, Kauai and Lanai have been mongoose free.

The mongoose was introduced to Hawaii by sugar cane farmers hoping to control rats (which arrived earlier as stow-a-ways on the first tall sailing ships to reach the islands). Unfortunately, the mongoose proved a disaster when it turned out they also had an appetite for Hawaii's ground nesting birds and eggs. While making no noticeable dent in the rat population, several species of Hawaii's ground nesting birds have become threatened or extinct. The nene - or "Hawaiian goose" nearly became extinct due to mongoose predation. Mongooses also wiped out Newell's shearwaters on Oahu, Molokai, Maui and the Big Island.

So how did Kauai avoid getting the mongoose? In 1883, 72 Jamaica mongooses were loaded onto a ship and sailed to the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island. Later, offspring of these animals were released on Maui, Molokai and Oahu. The story goes that Kauai was spared the pest because a dock worker, bitten by a caged mongoose bound for the Garden Island, kicked the cage into the water. To this day, Kauai hosts no mongooses...Or does it?

From time to time there are mongoose sightings on the Garden Isle. Last February a mongoose was spotted on Kauai by a "credible" witness prompting the state to quickly set traps to catch it.


Mongooses imported from India have decimated populations of seabirds.

Several new projects aim to curb predators, and more baby petrels have survived since a program began in the nesting areas at Haleakala National Park on Maui.

Officials asked that if residents see a mongoose on Kauai, to call the Kauai Invasive Species Committee at 246-0684.