They felt there should be more research on how mongooses were faring in the war on rats in the Caribbean. Not everyone on Big Island was in favor of bringing in the mongooses. However, none were introduced on the island of Kauai.

Their offspring were shipped to plantations on other islands, first Maui, then Molokai, and finally Oahu. Initially, 72 mongoose from Jamaica were brought in and were raised. This supposedly was successful in significantly reducing the sugar cane damage caused by rats. Sugar planters there had introduced the mongoose from India into their fields. In 1872, Big Island sugar planters uncovered an article on Caribbean sugar growers’ success in controlling their rat problem. Learn All About Oahu Here! Mongoose Arrival in Hawaii This infestation destroyed significant amounts of this most valued of crops. One of the major problems Hawaii sugar plantations battled during this era was rats chewing on sugarcane stalks for their sweet taste. In the 1800s up into the mid-1900s, Hawaii’s most valuable commodity was not pristine beaches and beautiful scenery. How the mongoose got here is an interesting story. In recent years, there have even been a few found either dead or captured alive on Kauai. However, the only place you will find them in the United States is in Hawaii.Īlthough not native to Hawaii, mongooses are well established on Hawai’i Island (aka The Big Island), Oahu, Maui, and Molokai. Mongooses (not mongeese) are native to Africa, Asia and some parts of Europe. What is that animal with the long brown body, long tail, short legs, pointy ears, and beady eyes you saw scurrying into or out of the bushes? Was it a squirrel? A muskrat, or maybe a ferret? More than likely, it was a mongoose in Hawaii.

Taking animal hides from hawaii