“Early in 2020,” Tasmanian photographer Pete Walsh writes at WildArk.org, “I noticed that the usually elusive Hobart Rivulet platypus had become a lot more comfortable foraging in exposed sections of the Hobart Rivulet.”
Platypuses are duck-billed, venom-spined, semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammals. They are native to the freshwater ecosystems of eastern Australia, “from the steamy tropics of far north Queensland to the freezing snows of Tasmania.”
“Unfortunately, this waterway was increasingly littered with trash. One day I came across a small platypus struggling to break free from a web of plastic netting on the rivulet bank. With some gentle assistance, I was able to free her.
“I later named this platypus Zoom as I would see her frequently zooming around her feeding pod. I began reading about threats to platypuses particularly in urban environments and wanted to do more. This experience inspired me to create the Hobart River Platypus Community Organisation.
In this clip from PBS Nature (ABC iview), Walsh shares his experience observing Zoom preparing her den in the Hobart Rivulet, just after the mating season. TIL: A platypus can carry stuff with their tail. Also:
“Female platypus can dig up to 30 feet into the riverbank to make a safe place to lay their eggs and raise their young.”
With the help of a few motion-triggered camera traps, he witnesses something incredible and adorable: rare footage of this baby monotreme in the wild. From the show notes:
“’The bond between Pete and Zoom is a microcosm of a universal story celebrating the relationship we can all have with wildlife, even hidden right under our noses,’ said Fred Kaufman, executive producer for Nature. ‘As Pete beautifully puts it: “You can’t keep taking from nature.” His journey is an inspiration for anyone looking to bring their community together and protect the world around them.’”
Watch the baby explore and flop about in the clip above.
The Platypus Guardian premieres October 18, 2023, at 8|7c on PBS and YouTube.
Learn more about this ancient animal’s history on Earth, and the need for conservation and cleanup of the Hobart rivulet in this excellent ABC Australia News feature: Our platypus are in crisis and need our help.
Learn more about Pete Walsh’s Hobart Rivulet Platypus conservation efforts on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and at hobartrivuletplatypus.org.
Then watch these related videos on TKSST:
• Rare baby platypus footage + a closer look at monotremes
• The three different ways mammals give birth
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