Mongoose alarm in tsunami-hit Samoa

DANGEROUS PEST: Mongooses from Fiji may have arrived in Samoa in a container of supplies stored at the Aleipata Wharf.

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Samoa's tsunami hit southern coast has a new worry - there are fears that mongooses are on the loose there.

The Ministry of the Environment has launched a major programme in the tsunami-hit Aleipata area where Principal Conservation Officer Lesaisaea Niualuga says they believe a mongoose has been seen.

They believe several mongooses have been living in the battered Lalomanu village since 2008 but there are fears numbers have exploded since the tsunami last September.

British colonial sugar growers introduced Indian mongooses to Fiji in the late 19^th century to control rats in cane fields and they have gone on to devastate the local bird life.

They are known to attack domestic chickens.

The Samoan Observer quoted village chief Leatitoa Sio Tuimavave as saying they were shocked the animals are in Samoa. He said they had been warned the animals could attack young children at night.

"So I'm worried about that," he said.

The pulenu'u or mayor of Satitoa, Mau Li'o, vowed that their village will find the creature.

Asked how it entered their village, Mau said they suspect it came in a container of supplies from Fiji stored at the Aleipata Wharf.

"We heard there are heaps of mongooses in Fiji and these supplies for the wharf were from Fiji," Mau said.

"It looks like a rat but it's longer," Mr Afa said.

Extensive trapping is to get underway this week.

- © Fairfax NZ News