A live Australian brushtail possum caused a stir at Hobart Airport on Wednesday. A passenger spotted it peering from a shelf in the departure terminal’s Lagardère AWPL gift shop at around 11:45 a.m. The animal had blended in among plush kangaroos, koalas, wombats, bilbies, dingoes, and Tasmanian devils.
Video showed the marsupial perched among the toy animals as onlookers recorded the scene.
“We had passengers here, there and everywhere, taking videos,” and the animal “was not stressed,” said Liam Bloomfield, the airport’s retail manager, according to ABC News Australia. Once the animal left the store, it briefly set off commotion in the departure lounge. Airport employees then escorted it safely out of the terminal and returned it to the outdoors.
“This would make my whole year”
How the animal entered the secure departure terminal—and the store—remains unknown. Staff do not believe it was placed there as a prank, noting it would have needed to pass through X-ray screening. It is also unclear how long it remained in the shop before being spotted. Bloomfield speculated the possum might have been drawn to the displays and “decided to make its home with those. It wanted to blend in.”
“This would make my whole year. So cute,” one social media user commented, according to NDTV. Some store employees organized a vote to give the possum a name. They plan to install a small shrine with a photo and a sign outside the shop once a name is chosen.
The brushtail possum is well known for adapting to human environments in Tasmania, where it is one of five possum species. It is now protected after a period of heavy hunting that once saw millions of skins sold abroad.