Doubt cast on new big-cat sightings

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

WAILUKU, Maui — Has the mysterious Olinda cat moved to Wailea?

While some residents in the posh South Maui community say it's possible, state wildlife biologist Fern Duvall said yesterday he didn't think so.

Duvall said he had interviewed several Wailea residents who said they had seen or heard a catlike animal Dec. 23, but the evidence didn't add up.

Phyllis Thompson said she and her husband heard loud, high-pitched animal sounds for about a half-hour at 2:30 a.m. Dec. 23, the same night a neighbor told police she saw a large black cat roam through her yard. Police found nothing.

Duvall said the sounds did not match those heard by Olinda residents, description of the animal was sketchy, and it could have been a black Labrador retriever. No one else reported hearing or seeing the cat in the area, he said.

Thompson acknowledged that no one had heard anything unusual for at least 10 days. "He's gotten smart and left the area, I think," she said yesterday.

No new big-cat sightings have been reported in the Olinda area, either, where dozens of residents claimed throughout last year to have seen or heard a large cat. The sightings ceased in November.

During the thick of the sightings last year, reports of the cat came in from all parts of the island, including Wailea, 15 miles from Olinda.

Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.