(BIVN) – An opossum of unknown origin was caught in a Kona big-box store over the weekend and removed from the island, officials say. 

From the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture: 

The store contacted the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) at about 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, and reported that they had trapped an opossum in an animal trap.

An agriculture inspector from the Plant Quarantine Branch (PQB) in Kona retrieved the animal early Sunday morning and arranged for it to be transported to Honolulu.

The opossum has been identified as a male weighing about six pounds. Because the origin of the animal is unknown, it has been humanely euthanized, which is required to test for rabies.

The Department provided this list of previous opossum catches in Hawaiʻi over the years:

• December 2024 – an opossum was trapped by PQB inspectors at a big-box store in Iwilei on Oʻahu.
• 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 U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Office on Ala Moana Blvd, an area surrounded by arriving cargo.
• July 2012 – an opossum was caught in an animal 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 U.S. 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,” the ag department wrote. “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), officials say.