Port workers helped capture a live skunk at Pier 1 in the Port of Honolulu this morning.
The skunk was sighted on the dock and stevedores used a fishing net to capture and contain the animal until agricultural inspectors from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture collected the animal at around 7:30 a.m. The skunk was determined to be a young male and is being tested for rabies.
The container ship, which was docked at Pier 1, arrived yesterday morning carrying cargo originating from Canada, Mexico, the US and possibly other foreign ports. The ship left port this morning and is en route to the port of Kahului, where personnel have been instructed to be on the lookout for other possible stowaways.
As a precaution, Agricultural Inspectors have set traps at Pier 1 in case there are other hitchhiking animals on the dock.
Live skunks were captured at Pier 1 in July 2021, February 2018 and January 2021. On Maui, a live skunk was captured at the port of Kahului in December 2020 and one at a trucking company in August 2018. All previously caught skunks have tested negative for rabies.
Skunks are prohibited in Hawaii and may only be used for research and display in a municipal zoo with permission. Skunks inhabit the US, Canada, South America, Mexico and other parts of the world. In the US, they are considered one of the four primary wild carriers of rabies, a deadly viral disease in mammals that is often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal. Hawaii is the only state in the United States and one of the few places in the world that is free of rabies.
Sightings or trapping of illegal and invasive species should be reported to the state’s toll-free pest hotline at 643-PEST (7378).
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