Live Possum Blends in With Stuffed Animals at Australian Airport Shop

A traveler at an Australian airport made an unusual discovery when they spotted a real possum sitting among plush toy animals in a gift shop. The live brushtail possum had positioned itself on a shelf next to stuffed kangaroos and other toy marsupials at Hobart Airport in Tasmania.

MELBOURNE, Australia — A traveler browsing an airport gift shop got quite the surprise when they noticed one of the stuffed animals had moving eyes.

The unexpected discovery happened Wednesday at Hobart Airport in Tasmania, where a live Australian brushtail possum had somehow made its way onto a merchandise shelf filled with plush toy animals, according to airport retail manager Liam Bloomfield, who spoke about the incident Thursday.

The real possum had positioned itself among stuffed kangaroos, while toy bilbies with their distinctive rabbit-like ears, dingoes, and Tasmanian devils surrounded it on nearby shelves.

“A passenger reported it to …. one of the staff members on shift who couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing,” Bloomfield said. “She then called the (airport) management and said we’ve got a possum in the store.”

An employee managed to capture video footage of the unusual visitor using her mobile phone before the possum became uncomfortable with the increased attention and departed the shop on its own.

Airport personnel successfully guided the possum out of the terminal without causing any harm to the animal.

Bloomfield remains puzzled about what drew the possum to that particular display area.

“I’m imaging it saw some of the plush animals that were for sale on the shelf and it decided to make its home with those. It wanted to blend in,” Bloomfield joked.

The mystery extends to how the possum entered the store initially and the duration of its stay among the merchandise.

Officials ruled out the possibility of a practical joke, noting that bringing the possum into the secure departure area would have required passing it through X-ray security screening.