'This was not our intent'

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 structure.

A video of the incident was shared to Reddit, capturing the shocking moment the possum plummeted to the ground as witnesses screamed.

The large orangutan then exited the enclosure and looked 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 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."

Now, Perth Zoo have apologised for the initial comments and for calling the possum a "pest" following backlash online.

They announced: "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.

"This was not our intent."

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