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What zoos have the captive platypus population?

Discussion in 'Australia' started by DavidBrown, 19 Jul 2017.

  1. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    An interesting side note is that the Healesville platypus presenters said that there are 15 wild platypus living in the stream running through the grounds.
     
  2. MRJ

    MRJ Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Platypus are actually quite common in suitable habitat. They can be found quite close to the centre of the city since the Yarra was cleaned up. We have even had them in our stream. Of course they are very secretive and difficult to observe.
     
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  3. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The answer to this question seems to be "yes", pending resolution of legal issues.
     
  4. MattyP

    MattyP Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I think that Platypus House in Tasmania have bred them. I seem to recall something about them saying they had when I visited 3 years ago.
     
  5. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    As for my question about San Diego potentially getting platypus, this recent thread shows it is indeed a realistic possibility: San Diego Zoo - Platypus...
     
  6. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I looked into this (via the mine-field that is Google). Lots of Tripadvisor reviews mentioning or implying how Platypus House have bred or do breed platypus, so I think that the public talks there must be either vaguely-worded or deliberately misleading. I found a newspaper article from as far back as 2005 about the place setting up a "breeding tank" (the "breeding tank" is also mentioned in some Tripadvisor reviews) but I also found an article from January 2017 - so just a few months ago - which doesn't explicitly say they haven't yet bred them but it seems quite clear from the contexts.
    Pressure on platypus numbers | Photos, video
     
    Last edited: 20 Aug 2017
  7. MattyP

    MattyP Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Interesting. I was going to say that I wasn't sure whether they said they had bred, or whether they hoped to because my visit was 3 years ago, but if other people have said they make that claim you may be right. Either way, it was quite a strange setup, being situated on a jetty out over the sea. It also houses a few echidnas which you can pat during the presentation.
     
  8. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Of note to platypus fans is the 769-page magnum opus The Management of Wild Mammals in Captivity (1964 - Lee S. Crandall) which of course is already in the collection of all true zoo enthusiasts. :) It is one of the most interesting books ever written about animals and there are 10 pages all about the captive history of the platypus. Crandall spent more than 60 years working at the Bronx Zoo and his details in regards to the platypus are extraordinary. Cost of food, names of specimens, David Fleay's animals, diet, measurements of animals and their enclosures, etc. There is far more information than I will provide here.

    'Cecil' and 'Penelope', a pair of platypus captured in 1946, both lasted until 1957 and thus spent 11 years in captivity. The Bronx Zoo then obtained a trio of platypus (1.2) on June 7th, 1958, but "these later arrivals failed to adapt, the survivor living only to March 25, 1959." If the San Diego Zoo Safari Park puts a pair of platypus on exhibit next year then it will be exactly 60 years since the species has been seen in the USA.
     
  9. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Administrator Staff Member 20+ year member

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    FYI - if anyone is in Australia and really wants to see Platypus - I strongly recommend Healesville Sanctuary near Melbourne.

    Their "Platypussary" is one of the best exhibits I've seen and on multiple visits we've witnessed them frolicking in broad sunlight. None of those dingy caves where you are hard pressed to see them swimming around murky water. Also, their indoor viewing area is a lot larger than most facilities and makes for good viewing.




     
  10. PAT

    PAT Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    This exhibit has been modified now to create a presentation area in the foreground while the background (the part in your first photo) is used for encounters. The presentation is really great and involves a glass fronted pool in front of some tiered seating where the keeper (in waders) gets into the pool and shows off some behaviours. You can get better views of the platypus than anywhere else I've ever seen them.
     
  11. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    That platypus show was a highlight of my visit to Healesville in 2017. They also bring out other wetland species like yabbie, a duck, and a turtle (don't remember what species) and talk about the platypus's habitat as well as its natural history.
     
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  12. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    You would all most likely be horrified to learn that I rarely bother to enter the platypus house when visiting Melbourne Zoo.
     
  13. TheEthiopianWolf03

    TheEthiopianWolf03 Well-Known Member

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    :eek:
     
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  14. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Heresy.png
     
  15. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Administrator Staff Member 20+ year member

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    Taronga zoo is similar - rarely worth the effort!
     
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  16. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Melbourne Zoo's platypus is very active though, and always puts on a good show in its nocturnal enclosure. The "darkness" at Healesville is less apparent though, as it is a longer building with a number of exhibits that allow visitors' eyes to adjust before they get to the platypus enclosures.

    The platypussary is only viewable during shows (and encounters - Wade with a Platypus), but definitely provides great views of the animals.