Live opossum captured from shipping container in Kalihi
COURTESY HDOA
The opossum appears to be a male adult or older juvenile, officials said, and measures about 1.5 to 2 feet in length.
State officials have captured another live opossum after freight workers spotted it in a shipping container in Kalihi.
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture says on Monday afternoon, workers were unloading construction material from the 40-foot container when they saw it. They shut the container and reported it to HDOA’s plant quarantine branch.
Ag inspectors dispatched to the scene found the opossum sitting on top of a pallet, and quickly captured it.
The opossum appears to be a male adult or older juvenile, officials said, and measures about 1.5 to 2 feet in length. He likely hitchiked to Hawaii in the container from California. As a precaution, HDOA is testing it for rabies.
This latest capture comes just about a month after another live opossum was spotted sitting on a window ledge of a downtown Honolulu building. Officials captured that opossum, as well, and said it tested negative for rabies.
Officials said the precise origins of both opossums remain unknown.
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Opossums are not native to Hawaii, and could be harmful to the environment if established in the isles, according to officials.
The marsupials are omnivorous scavengers, with diets that range from insects to bird eggs, rodents, fruits and vegetables. While they are less likely to carry rabies than other mammals, HDOA said, they are carriers of parasites and other diseases.
Pet opossums are also illegal in Hawaii.
Since 2005, several opossums have been captured in Hawaii, including:
>> June 2016 at a cargo ship at Honolulu Harbor.
>> July 2015 in near the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Office in Kakaako.
>> July 2012 in a cat trap at a Sand Island warehouse.
>> August 2011 in a shipping container as it was being unloaded at Ward Center.
>> 2005, when two opossums were found – one inside a military cargo plane at Hickam Air Force Base and the other in the mail-receiving area of Honolulu International Airport’s U.S. Postal Service facility.
HODA says illegal animals should be reported to the toll-free pest hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378).
