Possum found in Hobart Airport gift shop soft toy section.

Extract from ABC News 

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• Topic:Animals

11 hours ago

The real possum was "safely escorted" out of the terminal by airport management, the ABC was told. (Supplied: Hobart Airport)

In short:

A real possum nestled among stuffed animals has caused a sensation among travellers at Hobart Airport's gift shop.

The animal "appeared calm" but then took a walk outside the shop, which "caused pandemonium" in the departure lounge, a worker at the airport says.

It is unclear how the possum entered the building, with building redevelopment works a possible explanation.

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A real possum nestled among soft toys and animals in a gift shop has thrilled passengers and given airport staff something unusual to deal with in Hobart.

Liam Bloomfield, multi-site manager with Lagardere AWPL, at Hobart's airport in Cambridge, said staff members found the possum around 11.45am today.

"We found the possum sitting within the native plush," he said.

"It looked like he was pretty comfortable with his friends there."

How the possum got into the airport building was "a true mystery", a worker says.

Mr Bloomfield said the animal "was not stressed" and appeared calm — although things became much less calm when the animal left the store and took a tour of the airport.

"We had passengers here, there and everywhere, taking videos," he said.

"It was a bit of a mad rush to make sure it was safe and no passengers were disrupted and that the possum got back home."

Mr Bloomfield said the real possum was "safely escorted" out of the terminal by Hobart Airport management.

He said how the possum got into the airport building was "a true mystery", but speculated it could be because of "redevelopment works" that are underway.

He described the possum's visit as a "nice little spike of happiness" during a normal day's airport business.