Not a problem,i think its a great shame it didn`t make it to the U.K as i believe the ship was only a day away from docking,at Liverpool and the U-boat turned out to be a false alarm so they didn`t realy need to drop the depth charges.
here's some history on platypuses outside Australia. The first successful attempt to send any out of the country alive was by animal dealer Ellis S. Joseph in 1922. In 1910 Harry Burrell had became the first person to successfully keep platypus alive (in Australia), using a cleverly-designed "platpusary" incorporating a tank of water and artificial burrows fitted with tight rubber gaskets to squeeze the water from the platypuses' fur as they left the water. Joseph used a modified mobile version of this design to ship five male platypuses to the Bronx Zoo in New York, although only one actually survived the trip. It went on display for an hour per day for 47 days before dying. In 1943 Winston Churchill decided he wanted six platypuses sent over to England. In the event only one (a male, named Winston) was sent, but as mentioned in earlier posts it died just before reaching its destination due to depth charges being dropped by the ship it was on. In 1947 two female and one male platypuses were again sent to the Bronx Zoo. Supplies for the animals' voyage included 7000 frozen yabbies (freshwater crayfish), 136 000 frozen earthworms, 23 000 live earthworms, 22 000 live grubs, 45 frogs and numerous duck and hen eggs. Even so they ran out of food before journey's end and the zoo had to fly 10 000 more earthworms to meet the ship in Panama. One of the females survived less than a year. The other female stayed at the zoo until August 1957 but then escaped and disappeared. The male died a month later, after being in captivity for 10 years, 4 months and 24 days. In 1958 another two females and one male were again dispatched to the Bronx Zoo, but all three were dead within the year. These were the last platypus to leave Australia alive, and the Bronx Zoo remains the only non-Australian zoo to ever keep the species.
there are many misconceptions about platypuses. One is that they are rare but they are in fact, as you point out, actually pretty common right down the east coast and, especially so, in Tasmania (which is probably the easiest place to find them). The other common misconception is that they are nocturnal. Everyone says this, even at zoos, but they are actually cathemeral (active at any hour day and night) although there does seem to be a leaning towards crepuscularity (active at dawn and dusk). The two beliefs, that they are rare and that they are nocturnal, go hand in hand and are both due to the simple fact that platypuses are just shy. When submerged they are oblivious to whatever is happening above the water's surface, but when up for air they are well aware of everything in the vicinity and dive if startled. So they are relatively rarely seen because they have already gone before the person even knows they had been there in the first place. The best way to see them is just to pick a likely-looking spot by a good stream and sit and wait.
And they are fairly small, so even if a platypus will swim near the palce where you are sitting in good light, you won`t see that much unless you are really very close.
I posted one photo of Healesville's famous "Platypusary" in the appropriate gallery. The massive gold-coloured arches aren't liked by some, but the breeding success rate shows a lot of promise.
I cannot resist but imagine somebody counting out 136 000 frozen earthworms. Any chance that archives of Bronx zoo have picture of staff catching 10 000 earthworms in a hurry?
the zoo had set up a worm farm in the basement of the Lion House so the worms were readily to hand. Just an extra bit of info, when the 1947 platypuses arrived the ship had to unexpectedly dock at Boston instead of New York, so the zoo staff flew to Boston and hired a limousine to transport the Fleays and the platypuses to New York (because they needed a large vehicle to fit everything in).
depending on where, and when you go it is true that platypus are quite active. here in the HUNTER VALLEY NSW you could probably find platypus less than hours drive from every major town and the city of newcastle. they are shy, as pointed out, and their 'crepuscular' (i lean towards this) habits do make them hard to spot, but there are many locations around where they are known to occur. the only thing that really seems to knock their numbers around (and at any rate they seem to reappear in just a few years) is severe droughts, like the ones experienced here in the Hunter Valley. When smaller creeks disappear altogether the platypus obviously die, but when the rain comes back the platypus seem to restore their numbers. i think their aquatic lifestyle accounts for the fact that foxes have not knocked their numbers around; with platypus its more a water quality issue and in rural areas where chemicals etc are now disposed of responsibly they seem to becoming more common. happily
On my first visit to Tasmania(from the UK) we went looking for Platypus without really expecting to see one. In fact we saw them quite easily at about five different locations, mostly in the evenings but a couple of times at other hours of the day too. One I was able to follow several hundred yards as it swam and hunted without disturbing it at all. My next visit I wanted to see one again so I simply went to a likely spot and sure enough, Mr(or Mrs) Platypus obliged....
The footage in (if I remeber correctly) The Life of Mammals is breathtaking... The oldest mammals in the world (along with echidnas), milk oozing out of the skin... Love them, I only wish we has a Platypusary in NZ..!
