# Mongoose on Kauai – how to report sightings



## jacknsara (Jan 22, 2014)

Aloha,
While standing at the edge of the grass just above the beach between the G and H buildings at Kauai Beach Villas http://www.hawaiirevealed.com/free-travel-info/kauai/kauai-resorts/lihue-area/kauai-beach-villas and looking out at the ocean, in my peripheral vision I saw what I believed to be a mongoose dart between two clumps of  bushy plants a couple of yards from my feet.  That didn’t make sense to me, so I contacted the Kauai Invasive Species Committee.  www.kauaiisc.org I eventually had an interesting conversation with Pat Gmelin.  

General info on mongoose from: http://www.hawaiiinvasivespecies.org/pests/mongoose.html 
Kauai: One female mongoose was found dead along a road in 1976 near Kalaheo, and sightings have been reported all over the Garden Island. In May, 2012, KISC captured the first live mongoose near the Lihue Airport. A second mongoose was captured in June 2012, near the Nawiliwili port. KISC encourages reports of sightings (821-1490) and is working to verify whether there is a population.

A couple of weeks later I was telling the story to a good friend from home whose trip to Kauai overlapped ours.  He asked me what a mongoose looked like.  It turns out he saw one crossing a road in the Poipu area but did not know it was a mongoose when he saw it.  He subsequently contacted the Kauai Invasive Species Committee.
There aren’t that many yet, but they do exist.  Be on the lookout.  Report sightings to http://www.hawaiiinvasivespecies.org/iscs/kisc/contact.html 
Jack


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jan 23, 2014)

jacknsara said:


> Aloha,
> While standing at the edge of the grass just above the beach between the G and H buildings at Kauai Beach Villas http://www.hawaiirevealed.com/free-travel-info/kauai/kauai-resorts/lihue-area/kauai-beach-villas and looking out at the ocean, in my peripheral vision I saw what I believed to be a mongoose dart between two clumps of  bushy plants a couple of yards from my feet.  That didn’t make sense to me, so I contacted the Kauai Invasive Species Committee.  www.kauaiisc.org I eventually had an interesting conversation with Pat Gmelin.
> 
> General info on mongoose from: http://www.hawaiiinvasivespecies.org/pests/mongoose.html
> ...


Thank you for reporting them.  They need to be kept out of Kauai.  The wild chickens are a small price to pay for the benefit of retaining all of the other bird life.  

I didn't know there were any on the island, so I haven't been looking closely for them.  From now on I will.


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## MuranoJo (Jan 24, 2014)

Haven't seen them on Kauai, but watched one on the lava rocks just right behind HGVC Kingsland on the BI.  (Such a rare sighting for me, I didn't know what it was at first.)  Perhaps they're more common on the BI?


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## rickandcindy23 (Jan 24, 2014)

muranojo said:


> Haven't seen them on Kauai, but watched one on the lava rocks just right behind HGVC Kingsland on the BI.  (Such a rare sighting for me, I didn't know what it was at first.)  Perhaps they're more common on the BI?



Yes, they are very common to see on the BI.  I couldn't believe the numbers of mongoose on the beaches on the BI, near picnic tables.  They have destroyed the ground-nesting bird population on the island.


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## Johnsp (Feb 9, 2014)

What a bummer that mongooses have been sighted on Kauai.  I thought that Kauai and Lanai were mongoose free.  In the late 1800's mongooses were introduced to control rats in the cane fields.  Big mistake.  Rats are night animals and Mongooses are day animals and they prefer to eat birds threatening native birds.  When growing up on Oahu we used to trap them.  They were everywhere.  I hope they can be controlled or eliminated on Kauai.


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## jacknsara (Jul 22, 2015)

*The Garden Island newspaper recent article*

Aloha
from article 7/22/15 
http://thegardenisland.com/news/loc...cle_e223b9b9-f2a4-5277-9212-16ebe888ef33.html
. . . The mongoose is an animal so elusive it’s unknown whether they exist on Kauai. The invasive species has taken out portions of the bird populations on Oahu, Maui and Molokai. But on this island, there have been just three confirmed sightings. . . . 
. . .  But with 334 unconfirmed mongoose sightings on Kauai since 1968, it’s difficult to say whether they were rare foreign invaders or part of a resident population.   . . .
Jack


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## jacknsara (Oct 19, 2019)

Aloha from Kauai,
While searching the Kauai Invasive Species Committee website for info on the rose ringed parakeet (didn't find what I was looking for there), it occurred to me to look for updated info on the mongoose.  Imagine my surprise to discover they captured one in October 2016 and had a subsequent unconfirmed sighting. 
Jack

https://www.kauaiisc.org/mongoose-report-update/


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## TheHolleys87 (Oct 20, 2019)

Thanks for bringing this to attention - I didn't realize there are no mongooses on Kauai! That report was from 2017 - hope it truly was the last sighting and that there aren't any hiding anywhere on Kauai now.


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## jacknsara (Dec 31, 2021)

Caught another one








						Mongoose caught at Nawiliwili Harbor - The Garden Island
					

NAWILIWILI — A live mongoose was caught at Nawiliwili Harbor on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Agriculture.




					www.thegardenisland.com


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