Environment Matters Autumn/Winter 2024

On the watch for platypus

Dr Tamielle Brunt from Wildlife Queensland shares her tips for spotting this elusive species.

One thing that strikes people who do see platypuses in the wild is that they are smaller than people think. Males average 50cm long and weigh about 1.5kg. Females are around 40cm and 1kg. Given the platypus’ odd appearance with its bill, webbed feet and thick tail that stores fat, you might think they would be difficult to confuse with other species. However, in poor lighting or from a distance, aquatic birds and rakali (native water rat) are sometimes confused for platypus.

Watch for:

There have been recordings in Sandy, Woogaroo-Opossum and Six Mile creek catchments. We can minimise impacts on platypus by maintaining native waterway vegetation, clearing rubbish, stopping chemicals flowing into the systems and reducing irrigation water consumption.

concentric circles or ripples when they dive or feed a trail of bubbles that reveals movement underwater an obvious ‘bow-wave’ when swimming on the surface. Wildlife Queensland with Ipswich City Council have been monitoring this elusive species using environmental DNA (eDNA) to understand their distribution in the region.

Report your platypus sightings on the Atlas of Living Australia. Visit Platy-project.acf.org.au

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Spotlight on species Spotlighting can be one of the most rewarding forms of fauna surveying due to the nocturnal nature of many native Australian animals.

Spotlighting involves using a bright torch to search for ‘eye shine’, which is where an animals eyes reflect the light of the torch back as pinpricks of light in the darkness. Once you’ve spotted a critter you can swap over to red light or use the edge of the torch light to check what you’ve found, and avoid blinding them in the process.

Spotlighting is a great way to see several species of native gliders such as the greater glider, yellow-bellied glider and sugar glider as well as brush-tailed phascogales. These images were taken on a spotlight survey in Spring Mountain. Images by Paul Revie from Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland.

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