Whatever
Happened To...
An update on past news
Mystery of large cat
on Maui remains
unsolvedQuestion: What ever happened to the big cat that state wildlife officials were trying to catch in Upcountry Maui?
Answer: State wildlife biologist Fern Duvall said there have been no credible reports of the big cat in Olinda since snare traps to catch it were removed before Christmas.
While there have been calls about a big cat's presence several miles away in the hills mauka of Wailea this year, Duvall said the reports have not been credible.
The state has decided not to lay snares unless it receives recent credible sightings.
State officials confirmed there was a big cat on Maui last year, after an Arizona state expert determined a large cat -- perhaps a leopard or jaguar -- killed a wild 30-pound deer found near a gulch in lower Olinda on July 11.
There have been all kinds of theories posed across coffee tables in nearby Makawao town about why there have been no major sightings of the big cat in Olinda recently.
Some residents have speculated that the cat might belong to an owner who has kept it confined.
Others say they believe a hunter shot the cat and buried it. A third theory is that the cat has moved elsewhere and has a wide enough range and enough wild game, such as deer and birds, to remain out of sight.
Olinda resident Susan Wachter said a couple of weeks ago she and her husband told Duvall about finding deep scratches on a tree.
"He agreed it was the cat, but he didn't know when it happened," she said.
Wachter said she has not seen or heard the cat recently but remains uneasy about its location, especially with nearby ravines that could provide convenient dens for it.
"This animal could hide so easily here," she said.
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