Orangutan evicts unwanted possum from tree house by launching it through the air

'Oh my God!'

The incident occurred at Perth Zoo in Western Australia where visitors could be heard screaming as the ape launched the small animal, presumably to its death, from a tall metal tower.

A video, which was shared to Reddit, captured the shocking moment the possum plummeted to the ground as a witness screams: "OH MY GOD!".

The large orangutan then exits the enclosure and looks out towards the ground as if looking for the creatures landing spot.

A Perth Zoo official told Yahoo! News Australia: I would presume it [the possum] did not survive the fall. Obviously the loss of any living creature saddens us, but also nature playing out."

The person who initially shared the footage to Reddit explained that the orangutan was throwing the possum around on the ground before chasing it up the metal tower and "poking it with a stick". It then decided the game was up and hurled it to the ground.

One person responding to the video, wrote: "I know tenants are having a hard time paying the rent… but this eviction is a bit rough." A second commented: "Bloody hell, that was like an Olympics level discus throw.”

The zoo official added that possums are pests in the region and "sometimes local wildlife manage to sneak into" the exhibits, meaning the zoo's inhabitants occassionally have to deal with intruders themselves.

The official explained: "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.

"Whilst every effort is made to catch and remove them, the sheer height provides some challenges and sometimes the orangutans evict the odd possum themselves."

Related links: