Pesky possum and her joey are forced into QUARANTINE after sneaking over Mark McGowan’s notorious hard WA border inside a refrigerated truck – and now they need a lift home
- Cheeky eastern brushtail possum travelled from Victoria to Western Australia
- Hitched a ride in back of a delivery truck in mid-January, remains in quarantine
- If a major airline carrier doesn’t take possum and her joey, will be euthanised
A possum with a clear sense of adventure needs a lift home back to Victoria – after sneaking over the hard border into Western Australia.
The eastern brushtail possum and her joey, who ‘illegally’ made their way into Mark McGowan’s cut-off state in the back of a delivery truck in mid-January, both remain in quarantine.
The pair pose a significant biosecurity risk in WA, officials say, and calls have started for major airlines to transport the marsupials home to the Garden State.
WA animal rescue workers were shocked after hearing about the possum’s extensive journey – and knew they had to act quickly after the mum and its joey battled for three days without food or water.
‘We were obviously concerned about the possum’s condition because it wasn’t a refrigerated truck,’ WA Wildlife Hospital manager Karen Clarkson said.
A possum needs a lift home back to Victoria after sneaking over the hard border of Western Australia last month (pictured, with her joey)
The eastern brushtail possum and her joey, who ‘illegally’ made their way into Mark McGowan’s state in the back of a delivery truck in mid-January, both remain in quarantine
‘Possums bite hard, so with wild possums you’ve got to be very careful because you end up hurt… but I managed to pull her out without getting a scratch on me.’
Ms Clarkson added the possum was ‘terrified’ when back at the hospital and that a vet examination revealed she was carrying a joey.
WA Wildlife’s director of operations Dean Huxley told the ABC it was ‘quite rare’ for a possum to travel from the east coast into WA.
‘We’ve been doing this for 20 years at Native Arc and now WA Wildlife; we’ve never seen this before,’ he said.
With thorough quarantine protocols in Western Australia, the local vets and carers who worked with the Victorian possum were required to wear full protective equipment.
Even newspapers and towels used in the cage were later incinerated.
Ominously, if no airline carrier agrees to transport the possum and her joey back to Victoria, they will have to be euthanised.
WA Wildlife Hospital manager Karen Clarkson said catching the terrified possum in amongst the crates and pallets (pictured) was a challenging task – and if an airline carrier doesn’t take the possums home soon to Victoria, they will be euthanised
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