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Hannah the Platypus
Hannah, a young three-and-a-half month old Platypus, came into our care last week after a long drive from Uki, a small town in NSW. She was found on a bridge by a local resident who contacted the Tweed Valley Wildlife group who, in turn, contacted another wildlife carer from the Gold Coast and arranged a meeting point in Murwillumbah late that night. Hannah was a cold, exhausted and dehydrated little puggle and needed to be kept warm if she was to survive the night, so the carer turned the heater on the maximum setting in her car, which soon turned into a sauna/humidicrib enabling the puggle to warm up. (The carer on the other hand was sweating profusely!).
The next morning the puggle was brought to the Australian Wildlife Hospital for a thorough examination – including a blood test and
x-ray - by Hospital Manager, Gail, who has experience caring for platypuses. This revealed a slight respiratory infection, malnutrition and dehydration. Two deep, infected puncture wounds were also detected which could have been inflicted by the spurs of another platypus.
Antibiotics were prescribed for the infection, fluids administered for dehydration and food and rest prescribed. Hannah is being fed a special formula, is feeding well (see photo) and sleeping a lot – fortunately, she has a good prognosis for a full recovery.
The Platypus is a carnivore: it feeds on annelid worms and insect larvae, freshwater shrimps and yabbies that it digs out of the river-bed with its snout or catches while swimming. The Platypus needs to eat about 20% of its own body weight each day which means that it can spend an average of 12 hours each day looking for food. The Platypus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting small streams and rivers over an extensive range from the cold highlands of Tasmania and the Australian Alps to the tropical rainforests of coastal Queensland as far north as the base of the Cape York Peninsula. It is extinct in South Australia (barring an introduced population on Kangaroo Island) and is no longer found in the main part of the Murray-Darling Basin, possibly due to the declining water quality brought about by extensive land clearing and irrigation schemes.
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