melbourne, australia
AP
—
A fluffy possum stands out among the crowded shelves of stuffed native animals in an Australian airport gift shop. Its big brown eyes were moving.
A passenger browsing a display shelf in a departure terminal store at Tasmania’s Hobart Airport first spotted a live Australian brushtail possum peeking out among the kangaroos, airport retail manager Liam Bloomfield announced on Thursday.
Above the possum were a bilby, a marsupial with long rabbit-like ears, and a dingo, a native Australian dog. Next to the possum in the kangaroo section was the Tasmanian devil, the growling carnivore that was the inspiration for Warner Bros.’s feisty cartoon character Taz.
Mr Bloomfield said: “The passenger reported the incident to one of the staff on shift, who could not quite believe what he was hearing.” “She then called (airport) management and said there was a possum in the store.”
A staff member took a video of the possum with a cell phone before it left the store, wary of the increased attention.
Airport staff were able to remove the possum from the airport unharmed.
Bloomfield didn’t know what drew the possum to the toy shelf.
“I imagine he saw some stuffed animals for sale on the shelf and decided to make them a home. He wanted to fit in,” Bloomfield joked.
It’s unclear how the possum got into the store and how long it spent inside.
It’s hard to imagine that it was put there as a prank. Someone would have had to undergo an X-ray to bring the possum into the secure departure terminal area.
