At home amongst the canopies of rainforest trees, the Central American woolly opossum rarely ever ventures to the ground (4). It feeds upon both plant and animal matter, preferring fruits, but also consuming leaves, seeds, soft vegetables, insects, small vertebrates and possibly also carrion (1) (2).
The Central American woolly opossum's love for fruits of rainforest trees has led to an important relationship between the opossum and its favourite fruit trees, whereby the Central American woolly opossum acts as a seed-disperser. After ingesting the fruits of these trees, the seeds pass through its digestive tract unharmed and are dispersed when the opossum defecates in another location. The opossum’s faeces also act as fertiliser for the seeds (7). This opossum also plays a vital role as a pollinator. It is known to pollinate an understory rainforest tree it frequently visits, known as Mabea occidentalis, and is likely to also pollinate other plants on whose flowers it feeds (8).
The Central American woolly opossum is a very shy creature, only emerging from its daytime shelter in the hollows of trees where it sleeps curled up, to forage under the cover of the dark. Due to its strictly nocturnal habits and enigmatic lifestyle, few observations of its behaviour have been made in the wild (2). In captivity, the Central American woolly opossum sets out on its nightly forage only after dark and returns to its nest before dawn. It is most active during the darkest period of the night (2).
While the Central American woolly opossum reportedly breeds during the dry season (from January to June) in most of Central America, in Nicaragua it is believed to breed year-round (2). The female Central American woolly opossum gives birth to a litter of one to six young, or ‘joeys’, and, as with all marsupials, the joeys are tiny and relatively undeveloped at birth. Yet remarkably, the joey is able to clamber and find its way unaided immediately after birth to one of its mother’s teats in her pouch where it will latch on and suckle. The joey, safe in the warmth and protection of its mother’s well-developed pouch, will suckle and complete development fuelled by the rich milk supply its mother provides (2). Both male and female Central American woolly opossums reach sexual maturity at an age of between seven to nine months (2). While the lifespan of the Central American woolly opossum in the wild is unknown, in captivity it can live up to six years of age (2).