Fears Grow Over Platypus Numbers As Drought Bites
The Age
Monday September 8, 2008
IT MIGHT be enshrined on Australia's 20-cent coin, but the platypus is no longer a dime a dozen in parts of Victoria.
Concerns are growing that the platypus is facing "localised extinction" in parts of the Wimmera River after recent population surveys returned grim results.Despite estimates in 1998 that almost 80 platypuses lived in the Wimmera near the small town of Crowlands, a recent study failed to locate a single specimen in the 20 kilometres of river surveyed.University of Melbourne platypus expert Elise Furlan, who was involved in the survey, said the severe drought was putting enormous pressure on platypus numbers."There are sections of the Wimmera that have dried up, so that obviously restricts the habitat of the platypus," she said. Water scarcity has also reduced the prevalence of aquatic insects, which make up the bulk of platypuses' diets.Ms Furlan said there had also been a huge decline in platypus numbers around Melbourne waterways.Other surveys in the Wimmera region located only one platypus in the nearby MacKenzie River, prompting the local Catchment Management Authority to speculate that the MacKenzie might be the last remaining platypus habitat in the region.Conservation biologist Melody Serena, of the Australian Platypus Conservancy, said it was difficult to say whether localised extinction was occurring, but there had been evidence in recent years to suggest platypus numbers were declining. She said the population might have "crashed" during the severe drought of 2006. "It is highly likely that many animals died at this time." Ms Furlan said increased water availability was the obvious panacea for the woes of the platypus, underlining the importance of protecting the environmental flows of Victorian rivers."It is essential for platypus survival that we have environmental flows, not only for platypuses but also for invertebrate species," she said.
© 2008 The Age