Zoo Visitors Left Astonished After Orangutan Hurls Possum Off a Tower in Its Enclosure

An orangutan at Australia’s Perth Zoo left onlookers in shock after video emerged of it launching a helpless possum from a sky-high enclosure.

The short clip shows the massive ape ejecting the possum from a metal enclosure at the top of a post. It twirls through the air and lands with a muted thud off-camera. Those behind the camera can be heard screaming in terror or gasping in disbelief.

According to a Reddit user who was present for the fateful toss, it came after a long game of cat-and-mouse, which saw the marsupial “throwing the possum around on the ground at first. Then [it] chased it up the pole and started poking it with a stick”. The witness reported that after its ejection, the possum landed in “another enclosure with two orangutans.”

In a statement to Yahoo News Australia, a zoo spokesperson played down the severity of the event while admitting it didn’t end well for the possum.

“I would presume it did not survive the fall,” the anonymous spokesperson told Yahoo. “Obviously the loss of any living creature saddens us, but also nature playing out.”

They went on to give some context for the brutal attack: “Although we have a robust pest control program, it is impossible to eradicate all pests completely. The orangutan habitat is an outside environment, and possums, who also live at height, have been known to inhabit the above ground territories. Whilst every effort is made to catch and remove them, sometimes the orangutans evict the odd possum themselves.”

The video gave Redditors much to laugh about. “That Orangutan can join our Olympic discus team anytime,” one user remarked. “Madagascar Director’s Cut,” another joked. Some, however, took the matter very seriously indeed: “How is the possum doing,” one queried. “And hey can u guys stop making fun please!!!”