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Imagine you’re walking through the woods, just 20 minutes from downtown Honolulu, when a large wooly creature with curved horns trots onto the trail, turns, and looks right at you.

What do you do?

In my case, I froze solid, too dumbfounded to even whip out my iPhone and snap a photo. (The Bigfoot-inspired shot on the right was taken by one of my fellow hikers after the animal took cover behind a patch of nearby ironwood trees.)

The first thing that ran through my mind: What the heck is that ram doing here?

I wasn’t the only one with that question. Showing me around on a trail atop Kaahele Street, known alternately as Waimalu Ridge and Halapepe Nui, were Mark Fox, Grady Timmons and Samuel Gon of The Nature Conservancy. Gon is a terrestrial biologist who, with a quick glance, can tell the difference between a wild goat, not uncommon on Oahu, and a mouflon sheep, which is not supposed to be here.

There were telltale signs. The shaggy wool. The broad shoulders. The sheer size of its torso. And of course, the horns. It was definitely a ram.

Here’s what it would have looked like if we were hiking in a snowier clime:

Source:

Mouflon sheep on Oahu wouldn’t be the only invasive species to appear on an island where it’s not expected. On the Big Island, unconfirmed reports of spotted deer and Russian boar have farmers and native species advocates worried and government officials preparing a response plan.

It’s not clear how these ungulates managed to find their way to new islands. Is it a private landowner bringing in an exotic pet? Is it hunters bringing in new game? Something else?

For now, the reports are mostly second hand. But this one I saw with my own eyes. There’s a ram above Pearl City.