Join us this Platypus Month
© Canva NFP
Join PlatypusWatch as we take part in the ACF platy-project month of action, and help researchers understand more about this elusive animal and how we can better protect it.
This September, Wildlife Queensland’s PlatypusWatch is partnering with the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) to promote platypus conservation.
Because platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) are shy and secretive, we still have surprising gaps in our understanding of where they live. This makes it harder for scientists and conservationists to advocate for their protection — even as habitat destruction, bushfires, drought and pollution drive down platypus numbers.
You can help fill these gaps …
Participate by joining a PlatypusWatch Walk & Talk event this September or looking for platypuses in a Queensland waterway near you and recording what you see.
© Wildlife Qld
PlatypusWatch project officers conducting eDNA sampling.
PlatypusWatch Walk & Talk events
Join us for a FREE PlatypusWatch Walk & Talk with ecologist Dr Tamielle Brunt as part of platy-project month this September!
13 Sept, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
PlatyMonth: PlatypusWatch Walk & Talk
Bridgeman Downs, Qld
20 Sept, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
PlatyMonth: PlatypusWatch Walk & Talk
Pullenvale, Qld
27 September, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
PlatyMonth: PlatypusWatch Walk & Talk
Brookfield Qld
Top platypus-spotting tips
© Canva NFP
Circular pattern of ripples surrounding a platypus.
© Canva NFP
The entrance to a platypus burrow.
Given the platypus’s odd appearance, with its bill, webbed feet, and thick tail that stores fat for energy, you might think they would be difficult to confuse with any other species. However, in poor lighting or from a distance, musk dusks and rakali (Australia’s aquatic otter equivalent) are sometimes confused for platypuses.
Watch for:
- Concentric circles or ripples when platypuses dive and feed.
- A trail of bubbles that reveals platypus movement underwater.
- An obvious ‘bow-wave’ when platypuses are swimming on the surface.
- Slide marks and burrow entrances in banks, either above or below the surface, that are 10–15 cm in diameter. Commonly, entrances are 5 cm to 1 m above the water level and concealed by overhangs or vegetation.
- Footprints left in the soft mud on the riverbank near a burrow.
- Optimal habitat for platypuses, which includes clean creeks and rivers with medium-flowing currents, sturdy banks, overhangs, submerged logs and runnels and pools of 1–3 deep. They may also inhabit lakes, dams and even large ponds if water quality is good enough.
Is it a platypus or a rakali?
Despite the platypus’s unique features, it can still be mistaken for other species such as aquatic birds or rakali (native water rats) under poor lighting or from a distance.
Both rakali and platypuses are furry, semi-aquatic mammals that share similar sizes and colours, and often inhabit the same waterways. While platypuses are known for their unique electroreception abilities to navigate and hunt underwater, their coexistence in similar habitats can make them difficult to distinguish.
Watch our video to learn more about their differences and discover fascinating facts that will help you accurately identify a platypus in the wild.
Platypus sightings across Queensland are decreasing and have been for two decades now.
Encouraging Queenslanders to revisit local waterways where historical sightings were made, or to help survey new locations, will enable researchers to determine whether platypuses are now locally extinct in some habitats they used to frequent.
Whether you see a platypus in September or not, you’ll make a big contribution to platypus science and conservation efforts. You will also have a great time observing, appreciating and being out in nature.
More ways to help platypuses
- Maintain native vegetation along waterways.
- Dispose of rubbish properly and avoid using harmful chemicals near water systems.
- Conserve water to reduce the need for excessive irrigation.
- Sign our petition to ban opera house nets (enclosed yabby traps) in Queensland
- Join Wildlife Queensland PlatypusWatch and report your platypus sightings in Queensland. Your sighting information helps us monitor their population and distribution and identify where actions are needed to protect them.
- Follow Wildlife Qld PlatypusWatch on Facebook.