A third opossum has been captured in Honolulu this year

Plant quarantine inspectors with the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture trapped an opossum overnight at a big-box store in Iwilei. This marks the third opossum that has been captured on Oʻahu this year.

The Plant Quarantine Branch received a report of an opossum on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 12, from a passerby who saw an opossum in the area the night before. Inspectors checked the area and set traps. On Sunday, Dec. 15, inspectors returned to the site during the evening and found opossum droppings in a storage container at the store and set traps there using bananas, apples and cantaloupe as bait. On Wednesday morning, inspectors found the opossum in one of the traps in that storage container.

It is not known where the opossum came from and the store employees said they did not see it come out of any shipping container, but did observe it roaming the area at night. The storage container where the opossum was trapped was not used for shipping.

The animal has been identified as a male weighing about nine pounds. Because the origin of the animal is not known, it will be euthanized so it may be tested for rabies. 

Over the years, several opossums have been captured in Hawai‘i:

• August 2024 – an opossum was captured at a Kalihi freight company after workers saw it run into a shipping container.
• July 2024 – an opossum was captured on a window ledge of an office building in Downtown Honolulu.
• June 2016 – an opossum was captured by workers offloading a cargo ship at Honolulu Harbor.
• July 2015 – an opossum was captured in Kaka‘ako near the US Immigration and Naturalization Office on Ala Moana Blvd, an area surrounded by arriving cargo. 
• July 2012 –  an opossum was caught in a cat trap at a Sand Island warehouse.
• August 2011 – one was found in a shipping container as it was being unloaded in the Ward Center area.
• In 2005, two opossums were found – one was captured inside a military cargo plane at Hickam Air Force Base and the other was found in the mail receiving area of the US Postal Service facility at Honolulu International Airport.

Opossums are native to North America and are omnivorous, with diets that range from insects, bird eggs and rodents, to fruits and vegetables. Although opossums are less likely to carry rabies than other mammals, they are carriers of parasites and other diseases.

Anyone spotting an illegal animal should call the statewide toll-free PEST HOTLINE at 808-643-PEST (7378).