Two live opossums were captured at two separate Honolulu Harbor locations yesterday.
After a shipping company reported seeing an opossum running in the container yard at Pier 1 overnight, agriculture inspectors from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s Plant Quarantine Branch (PQB) responded and captured the opossum using a pole and a net.
Later that morning, a different shipping company on the opposite end of the harbor reported that it had captured an opossum in a cat trap after observing it running in the container yard near Pier 51. PQB inspectors were immediately dispatched and retrieved the animal.
As per animal and human health protocol, all the opossums were humanely euthanized and submitted for rabies testing.
Opossums are native to North America and are omnivorous, with diets that range from insects, bird eggs and rodents, to fruits and vegetables.
Photo credit: Department of Agriculture
