Big cat traps to be dismantled

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

OLINDA, Maui — With no captured big cat or even any recent sightings, state wildlife officials decided yesterday to halt their efforts to trap the mysterious animal believed to be prowling in this rural area above Makawao.

Officials said they plan to dismantle their traps in lower Olinda today and bring them out again only if there are new sightings or additional evidence pointing to the presence of a big cat.

They also plan to conduct a new ground search as soon as one can be arranged.

"Until we receive reports to the contrary, we believe the cat may still be in the lower Olinda area, somewhat makai from where it had last been seen," said state wildlife biologist Fern Duvall.

Duvall said humans may have unintentionally driven the cat away from the traps. He said it appears people have tampered with the cages and even added their own baits. Others, perhaps curious to see the animal, entered the gulch where the traps were set up, he said.

"Human odor can linger in an area," Duvall said.

It's been nearly two weeks since officials ramped up efforts to catch what is believed to be a leopard or a jaguar. Wildlife officials had received reports of a cat-like animal in the area almost every month since mid-December. Ten recent reports included six sightings within a two-mile radius.

After finding sizable paw prints, large clawmarks on trees and dead birds — the first solid evidence the animal exists — state Department of Land and Natural Resources officials on June 26 added three more traps to the one already placed in the Olinda gulch.

But even cameras with motion sensors — set up June 27 after two of the traps had been disturbed in the night — failed to capture an image of the creature.

There have been no recent paw prints found in the area, Duvall said, and "there have been more sightings of feral chickens than in the previous week, when there were signs that the cat was in the area."

Some Olinda residents had reported a decline in the chicken population in recent months.

Officials have speculated that the exotic cat may have been illegally brought into Hawai'i as a cub and raised as a pet but was set free or escaped after it grew too large.

The cameras were set up after one of the traps was found flipped and the wire mesh nearest the bait pulled out. Duvall said "it would require quite some strength to accomplish."

One of the cages did trap an ordinary feral cat, which was released.