Animals are like humans in that many of them like their own space and simply don’t want to be bothered. That’s why when one orangutan at Perth Zoo in Australia had an unwelcomed visitor in its enclosure, he decided to give the invader the boot — literally! In a clip posted to Reddit, the primate can be seen hurling a possum through the air. Goodness only knows where it ended up!
- A lot happens in the 6-second clip. The video starts with the orangutan out of sight — in fact, all you see is a small animal go flying through the air and off into the great unknown. That’s when the orangutan comes out of its enclosure and we realize what just happened.
- That orangutan really wanted to make sure that possum was gone. While it’s not nice to think of what must have befallen that little possum — it’s hard to imagine he’ll have much of a soft landing — it’s kind of hilarious to see the orangutan come out of its enclosure and look in the direction in which he threw the smaller animal, as if to say, “Just checking that damn thing is gone!”
- Apparently, the orangutan did give the possum a warning. According to 9News, he first poked the possum with a stick to let it know that it needed to GTFO, but it wasn’t taking the hint. A spokesperson for the Perth Zoo confirmed, “On this occasion, the orangutan was alarmed to find an unknown occupant in their bed.”
- Perth Zoo officials insist that the possum actually survived and walked away with no injuries. What a shocker! “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. “Rest assured the possum was sighted scurrying off after being evicted. They are a very robust species.” Well, that makes me feel a lot better about laughing at this video!!
- Not everyone was impressed at the zoo’s blase attitude. In fact, many thought it was cruel that Perth Zoo seemed to care more about the orangutan than it did about the possum, since all animals are meant to be created equal. The zoo issued a follow-up statement assuring the public that’s not the case. “While they do pose a management challenge for us on site because of their large numbers, our outdoor environment, abundance of food and bedding, it is not appropriate to refer to them as a ‘pest’ in the same way we would consider introduced black rats as a pest,” it said. “This was not our intent.”
Orangutan at Perth Zoo launching a possum
byu/j___—h inperth
