HONOLULU (AP) – The organization fighting invasive species on Kauai says a live mongoose has been captured on the island for the first time.
The Kauai Invasive Species Committee said in a statement the male mongoose was found in a trap at Kauai Lagoons resort in Lihue on Wednesday.
The animal was euthanized afterward.
Sugar plantations introduced mongoose to Hawaii to control rats in cane fields. The mongoose didn’t control rats as planned but instead preyed on turtle eggs and birds.
Kauai’s plantations didn’t introduce mongoose to their fields, and their absence is one reason ground nesting birds like nene have flourished on the Garden Island.
The last time a mongoose was confirmed to have been on the island was in 1976. One was found dead on a highway in Kalaheo that year.
AP-WF-05-24-12 0154GMT
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
