Possum found nestled in with plush toys at airport gift shop in Tasmania | Tasmania

A passenger browsing through a souvenir shop at Hobart airport came across a remarkable discovery in the plush toy section.

A real living, breathing brush-tailed opossum had decided to join its furry friends on the shelves of the Lagardère AWPL gift shop on Wednesday morning.

A passenger first spotted the opossum peeking out from among the toy kangaroos, bilbies, dingoes and Tasmanian devils, a snarling carnivore that inspired the feisty Warner Bros cartoon character Taz.

Retail manager Liam Bloomfield said staff and customers were delighted.

“A passenger reported this…to one of the staff members on shift, who couldn’t believe what he heard,” Bloomfield said.

“Then he called [airport] management and said: We have a possum in the store.

An airport spokesman said the opossum remained calm as it was safely escorted out of the terminal without incident.

Store staff voted on what to name the marsupial, Bloomfield said.

“We’ll have a little shrine for the opossum. It’ll be a nice little photo; when it gets a name, we’ll put up a nice little sign in the front of the store to make sure it’s remembered.” Bloomfield said.

Brushtails are one of five species of possums found in Tasmania and are nocturnal; however, it is known to be highly adaptable to a variety of natural and human environments.