EXCLUSIVE: Possum holds woman hostage at her home, New Zealand Police report
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EXCLUSIVE: Possum holds woman hostage at her home, New Zealand Police report
New Zealand police reported that a possum has been released without charge after holding a woman "hostage" at her home.
The officers said that a distressed woman called them on Sunday night to report that "a possum was holding her hostage" at her home in Dunedin.
New Zealand police reported that they released possum without charges after it held a woman hostage at her home in Dunedin. Credit: Animal Health Board Inc/AFP/Getty Images.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said, "When she would exit her house and attempt to reach her car, the possum would charge at her and she would flee inside.”
The officer also said that when they arrived at the scene, a juvenile possum jumped out of the dark and climbed an officer's leg.
Dinnissen suspected that the possum may either be an escaped pet or had recently been separated from its mother.
After "apprehending" the suspect, police said that they took it to a nearby lookout spot at Signal Hill where they released the possum into the wild "to prevent further citizen harassment".
Sargeant Dinnissen confirmed that the confrontation was peaceful as no harm came to the possum nor the officers.
Veterinarian and animal behaviour expert Dr Rachael Stratton suggested that the possum might be acting out of fear rather than aggression.
“The typical thing for most wild animals would be to run away. Unless, as it’s a juvenile, it is perhaps still learning how to deal with threats.”
Additionally, the expert noted that the possum may have been stressed due to the fact that it had fewer options for places to run and hide as it was in an urban environment.
The possum was released into the wild after it was “apprehended” by police officers "to prevent further citizen harassment”. Credit: Getty Images.
Possums have been treated as an invasive species since they were first introduced into New Zealand from Australia in 1837 to establish a fur trade — which has never taken off — between the two countries.
The marsupials have had a devastating impact on New Zealand's birdlife — competing for food and habitat resources, wrecking nests to eat eggs and fledgelings, and destroying native trees such as rātā, totara, tītoki, kōwhai and kohekohe.
With no natural predators other than cats, the possum population has exploded in New Zealand. A 2009 Landcare study revealed that the estimated population of possums was more than 47 million.
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