STORY: The platypus is being brought back to Australia’s oldest national park
10 platypuses in all will be released in Royal National Park, south of Sydney
No platypus sightings have been reported there for more than half a century
It’s the first attempt to rewild the species in the region
[TAHNEAL HAWKE, POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER AT CENTRE FOR ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES]
“The idea with reintroducing platypuses is that it does act as a flagship species – it’s like our freshwater koala in Australia. And so by reintroducing platypuses we’re hoping to really promote healthy rivers and the importance of conserving our rivers – especially in an area so close to Sydney, where so many people are able to come and see the direct implications of actually reintroducing an animal. So by doing that we’re hoping that other species that occupy the same river there will really benefit from any improvements that occur because of this reintroduction.”
Four males are set to be released into the park next week
[GILAD BINO, RESEARCHER AT CENTRE FOR ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES]
“So yeah very exciting for us to see platypuses come back to the park and for a thriving population here to establish themselves and for Sydneysiders to come and enjoy this amazing animal.”
The platypus is found only in Australia and has highly specific habitat needs
It is increasingly under threat from habitat destruction and climate change
Estimates on the current population range from 30,000 to around 300,000
Each platypus will be tracked for two years to see how they respond to events like drought
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