A raccoon was recently captured in a shipping container holding household goods and furniture on Oʻahu. Moving crews spotted the raccoon while unloading the container at a residence in Iroquois Point. They immediately closed the container and contacted the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) Plant Quarantine Branch.
Agricultural inspectors were dispatched and set several traps in the container overnight. The next morning, when inspectors checked the container, the raccoon was in one of the traps but was already deceased. A HDOA veterinarian said the raccoon is a young female and is being tested for rabies.
Transportation records show that the container came from Maryland via California and arrived at Honolulu Harbor on March 19th. It had not been opened in transit to Hawai‘i.
Raccoons are native to North America. They are omnivorous and their diets consists of plants, insects, birds, bird eggs, fish and small mammals. Raccoons may also carry rabies and other diseases. Hawai‘i is the only state in the U.S. and one of the few areas in the world that is rabies-free.
According to a 2018 rabies surveillance report by the American Veterinary Medical Association, there were about 5,000 reported cases of rabies in wild animals in the U.S. Raccoons accounted for about 30 percent of wild animal cases, second to bats at 33 percent. The full report may be found at: https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/256/2/javma.256.2.195.xml
Sightings or captures of illegal and invasive species should be immediately reported to the state’s toll-free Pest Hotline at (808) 643-PEST (7378).