The National Zoo has announced that it welcomed a new resident earlier in the summer, and it has now been named an ambassador for its species.
Basil, a Virginia opossum, also known as a North American opossum, came to the zoo from the local wildlife rehabilitation centre in Washington, DC, City Wildlife, after being rehabilitated from a predator attack, in which he lost one of his eyes, according to a 2 September press release. Basil was placed in the National Zoo’s Small Mammal House after the centre deemed him unreleasable and decided he would not survive long in the wild with his eyesight.
