Virginia opossum in captivity
- Thread starter zorg
- Start date
They are around in very minimal numbers in private hands, but are almost extinct in public zoological collections - as far as anyone knows there is only a single collection holding any, Ree Park in Denmark, but as they have very short lifespans and the last birth there was in 2009 they may well be gone by now.
The most famous one lived at Leipzig Zoo: Heidi :
Last edited by a moderator:
Opossums are nocturnal. Here in the U.S. they are most frequently used as education animals because they are active when the handler talks about them - otherwise they would be asleep. Sometimes the opossum's home is visible as a public exhibit, but the animal is usually curled up in a ball snoozing.
Where opossums live in the U.S. they are very common. Most or all of the opossums in captivity are animals that were injured in the wild and are non-releasable. They are quite commonly seen in zoos and nature centers, but usually in the context of education shows and animal presentations. People also frequently see them in their backyards and neighborhoods wandering around at night.
When I was a university student I got up early one morning to take a final exam and jumped when I saw what I thought was a giant rat wandering through some shrubs, but it was an opossum.
Where opossums live in the U.S. they are very common. Most or all of the opossums in captivity are animals that were injured in the wild and are non-releasable. They are quite commonly seen in zoos and nature centers, but usually in the context of education shows and animal presentations. People also frequently see them in their backyards and neighborhoods wandering around at night.
When I was a university student I got up early one morning to take a final exam and jumped when I saw what I thought was a giant rat wandering through some shrubs, but it was an opossum.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
We have had two at our school zoo, in Sussex, over the past year. Unfortunately, neither lived for very long, and as a consequence we will probably not be continuing to keep the species - fascinating though it is.
I worked with two females when I was employed in the education department of a US Zoo. They were sisters and lived happily together in an offstage exhibit. They were sleeping most of the day, but were active enough when we used them in our stage show. In between shows, as part of their enrichment, I would take them out of their crates and let them walk outside in the backstage area. I found them to be quite lovable creatures - of course I would never go up to one in the wild. It is unfortunate they do not live long lives.
yes, like most smaller marsupials they have naturally short lives (live fast, breed fast, die young). In the wild they live a couple of years, maybe three or four at the most. In captivity outside America they would need some dedication to keep populations going (in America I guess it doesn't matter so much if there is a supply of rescued or wild-caught animals).
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
I'm sure the cross-eyed one in Leipzig was a Virginia Opossum. If not, what was it?
That is definitely a Virginia opossum (which is what the entire species is called, at least in North America).
This would be because the Leipzig animal died in 2012
and was indeed a Virginian Opossum incidentally.
Jesperhus in Denmark also held Virginia opossums until very recently (probably last year) in their tropical zoo. I don't actually know where they went. They built a new night zoo in 2011, actually with a rather nice collection, at least by Danish standards (rat kangaroos, tenrecs, acacia rats, Moholi bushbabies etc.), and they got hold of a couple of opossums, one of them being cross-eyed. They tried to make it a mascot like it was done with Heidi, but I don't think it ever really worked.
Then, they very suddenly started a new project - Martin & Ketils Junglezoo - which was essentially a project to advertise two popular Danish children television hosts, and the purpose with this project was that the three greenhouses should be merged to one huge greenhouse, and that all animals should be free-ranging.
Thus, they tore down the night zoo only about one and a half year after they originally constructed it, and almost all the species in there left the collection, except for the rat kangaroos and a couple of reptiles which were added to the free-ranging roster. I have somewhat mixed feelings towards this project, but well, I don't want to go off-topic by discussing it further in this thread.
In short: The opossums left the collection after a very short time and I have no idea where they went. If they went somewhere. I don't know if anyone in here can enlighten me/us as it is a rather local and not especially well-known zoo/theme park.
Then, they very suddenly started a new project - Martin & Ketils Junglezoo - which was essentially a project to advertise two popular Danish children television hosts, and the purpose with this project was that the three greenhouses should be merged to one huge greenhouse, and that all animals should be free-ranging.
Thus, they tore down the night zoo only about one and a half year after they originally constructed it, and almost all the species in there left the collection, except for the rat kangaroos and a couple of reptiles which were added to the free-ranging roster. I have somewhat mixed feelings towards this project, but well, I don't want to go off-topic by discussing it further in this thread.
In short: The opossums left the collection after a very short time and I have no idea where they went. If they went somewhere. I don't know if anyone in here can enlighten me/us as it is a rather local and not especially well-known zoo/theme park.
chrisbarela
Well-Known Member
Opossums are extremely interesting animals and, having worked with one at the Santa Ana Zoo, I can say that they are very easy to handle. Like David Brown said, the best way to showcase them is to use them as an educational animal or a meet and greet animal - that way the guest gets to see it awake and up close as well as the added benefit of having the keeper there to answer questions. I think this approach would work well for most small animals that sleep most of the time.
I've occasionally seen some advertised for sale, but they usually turn out to be white-eareds like this pair that an acquaintance had.
I know of a couple of people that keeps/have kept genuine virginians privately, but as you've all said, they die pretty quickly
I know of a couple of people that keeps/have kept genuine virginians privately, but as you've all said, they die pretty quickly
This sounds interesting. is it how it reads, that you have a zoo at your school ?
Incidentally I have kept a pair of Virginia opossums, they were very very tame but never bred, I tried many different things to no effect. I understand VO in Europe are tricky to breed where as in America they breed like mad... Could this be something such as different air pressures? As many diets, habitats, temps and day and night periods have been tried but to no avail.
What @DavidBrown and @chrisbarela said are absolutely correct. They are quite common in the United States so likely not much interest for zoos. I grew up in a nice suburb of the greater Los Angeles area with the typical small yard. One day my father told me to come out back and there was an opossum mother with six babies riding on her back in the ivy.