Visitors at Perth Zoo were left shocked when an orangutan tossed out an unwanted intruder from its treehouse.
A possum, one of Australia’s cutest albeit annoying pests, found itself in the wrong enclosure and was flung from the treehouse by the orangutan around 1pm on Saturday.
In a video shared on Reddit, visitors were stunned at the sight, with one person exclaiming “oh my god”.
In an interview with 7NEWS.com.au, the person who filmed the encounter said that they “didn’t think [the orangutan] would throw [the possum] like a frisbee” and into another enclosure.
The camera shows the possum cartwheeling in the air and disappearing out of view, before panning back to the primate climbing out of the treehouse.
A spokesperson for Perth Zoo told news.com.au that while the zoo staff do try and keep wildlife from breaking and entering other habitats “it’s not always possible to stop them”.
“The orangutan habitat is an outside environment and possums, who also live at height, just like the orangutans, have been known to inhabit the above-ground territories,” they said.
“While every effort is made to prevent them from entering, the sheer height provides some challenges and sometimes the orangutans evict the odd possum themselves.
“Our animal experts have confirmed that this possum took advantage of the cosy warm orangutan nest during the cooler weather, and on this occasion, the orangutan was alarmed to find an unknown occupant in their bed.”
As for the possum’s fate, the zoo confirmed that it was “sighted scurrying off after being evicted”.
“They are a very robust species,” they told news.com.au.
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The video was shared on Reddit by the username j___---h a few days ago, with many poking fun at the incident.
“I’m currently working at evicting two possums from living in my soffetts. Do you know if that orangutan does house calls?” one user asked.
“I know tenants are having a hard time paying the rent … but this eviction is a bit rough,” another wrote.
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