Second expert says Maui big cat is 'out there'
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
KAHULUI, Maui — A second wildlife expert returns home to Arizona convinced that a big cat is prowling the wilds of Olinda, Maui.
Timothy Hurley • The Honolulu Advertiser
The large, four-pronged claw marks carved into guava trees did it for Stan Cunningham.
"There's a large cat living out there," Stan Cunningham said.
"I can't think of anything else in the world that could have done that," the big-game trapper said yesterday.
Cunningham, a research biologist who has trapped more than 200 animals, was brought to Maui to identify trapping areas and to train local wildlife officials how to set up leg-hold snare traps.
The visit, which ends today, comes two months after Bill Van Pelt, Cunningham's Arizona Game and Fish Department colleague, traveled to Maui and concluded that a jaguar, leopard or mountain lion is roaming in and around the gulches that run through the rural Upcountry community.
During Cunningham's stay, 19 snare traps were deployed in a 20-square-mile region and were checked once a day. Some were baited with dead chickens, others with the urine of a serval, an African cat. Others had no bait.
The only thing caught was a pregnant, mixed-breed dog that gave birth while in a snare. Mom and nine puppies were returned to their owner unharmed. No other traps were disturbed.
Cunningham said he was disappointed that no cat was captured, but he reiterated that the effort is going to take time. When asked how much time, he replied: "You're not going to get me to step in that noose."
In Arizona, he said, there were times when he traveled three or four days on horseback in country highly populated with mountain lions without seeing a single cat.
In Olinda, the rugged, heavily wooded terrain offers lots of cover and plenty of food in the form of rats, chickens and the like, he said. There are also vast unpopulated areas where the creature can wander.
The difficult part about trapping this particular cat, he said, is knowing that it was likely released into the wild by someone who kept it as a pet. The behaviors one might expect of a wild cat may not apply.
State wildlife officials said they would continue to check the traps daily, modify them if they don't produce results and move them when and if the big cat shows up in any new areas.
The public was urged to continue to call in any suspected sightings to help officials with tracking the animal.
During his Maui visit, Cunningham responded to two possible big-cat sightings: one when a resident heard catlike noises in the night and another after dogs were barking and deer were seen running about. Each time, Cunningham found nothing.
Even so, with the claw marks and other signs, he declared: "I saw enough to reduce any skepticism I may have had.
"There's a large cat living out there — like it or not."
Contact Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
