What do they look like?
The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an aquatic mammal. It is brown in colour and quite small. An adult Platypus can be from 45 cm up to 60 cm in length and can weigh up to 2.7 kg.
Platypus have dark backs and a light brown belly, long, coarse hair, a long duck-like bill, webbed feet and short legs.
Where are they found?
Platypus are found on the eastcoast from Northern Queensland and as far south as Tasmania, as well as some areas of South Australia and Kangaroo island. Platypuses are intriguing animals. They might live right under your nose in a creek or stream near you. If you sit quietly on a creek bank early in the morning or late afternoon you might just see one.
Fast facts:
- Male Platypuses have a poisonous spur on the inside of their hind legs. The spur contains a poison that the Platypus uses to defend his territory from other males and enemies.
- Platypuses are one of two animals in the world that are known as monotremes. The other is the echidna. Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs.
Platypus – the full story
The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) also known as the duck billed Platypus is an aquatic mammal. This name comes from the Greek words platys meaning ‘broad and pous meaning ‘foot’.
Platypuses are one of two animals in the world that are known as monotremes. The other is the echidna. Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs.
The Platypus is brown in colour and quite small. An adult Platypus can be from 45 cm up to 60 cm in length and can weigh up to 2.7 kg.
Male Platypuses have a poisonous spur on the inside of their hind legs. The spur contains a poison that the Platypus uses to defend his territory from other males and enemies.
Platypuses dig two burrows; a nesting and a resting burrow. Burrows can be up to 20 m long. Burrows can be hard to find as the entrances are often underwater or covered by overhanging stream bank vegetation.
Platypuses eat yabbies, fish, worms, water bugs and sometimes small frogs that live in the creeks and streams. Occasionally Platypuses eat insects that fall into the water. They feed early in the morning or late in the afternoon, foraging in the creek-bed for their food.
Platypuses are intriguing animals. They might live right under your nose in a creek or stream near you. If you sit quietly on a creek bank early in the morning or late afternoon you might just see one.
You can help look after Platypuses
Platypuses are shy creatures and this is how you can protect them in your very own neighbourhood:
- Don’t use yabby traps to catch yabbies in freshwater streams.
- Don’t disturb Platypuses if you see them.
- Plant native plants along the stream bank, it will protect the banks and provide areas to live.
- Clean up streams by removing broken bottles and rubbish.
- Keep your dogs on a leash if walking them near Platypus habitat.
Platypus love:
Slow flowing water – such as in a series of pools and riffles.
A bit of depth – including pools up to 1 to 2m deep, but no deeper than 5 m, with little sand accumulation.
Vegetation – such as plenty of water plants and plants overhanging the stream banks.
Cleanliness – in the form of good water quality.
Somewhere to hide – such as around large woody debris like logs.
But they don’t like:
Predators – including foxes, cats and dogs.
Poor habitats – where stream banks have been eroded and degraded, particularly by livestock.
Pollution – including detergents, fertilizers, pesticides and rubbish in their water.
Be a Platypus buddy
Try to:
- leave burrows alone as the Platypus may be incubating eggs which are very fragile.
- protect Platypus habitats by revegetating eroded creek banks with suitable locally native plants – check with your local council or native nursery to find out which plants would be best for your area.
- fence off creek banks so livestock don’t damage them.
- replant bare or eroded creek banks.
- tread carefully and be very quiet if you want to spot a Platypus during the early morning or late afternoon.
Avoid:
- using chemicals and pesticides in your garden, as the run off caused by rains can enter waterways and badly affect native animals by causing algal blooms.
- using fishing nets or yabby traps in areas where Platypuses live.
- spraying insecticides near rivers where they kill off food sources for Platypuses.
Don’t be surprised if:
- you notice that Platypus come and go from an area. Platypuses may disappear in some areas due to predators.
- you find a Platypus by itself. They are mainly solitary creatures.
