A healthy platypus was just discovered in an urban waterway in Sydney for the first time since 1998 – and our day has just been made.
After extensive DNA testing, research and several reported sightings in the Cattai Creek catchment in the Hills District in Sydney’s north west, researchers managed to scientifically confirm the existence of one wild platypus just minutes away from an urban development area.
The Cattai Hills Environment Network (CHEN) have been trying to confirm a number of platypus sightings in this area since 2016, and now, all their hard work has paid off. The existence of this healthy platypus in a creek system that is located so close to urban developments is nothing short of wild, and speaks volumes about how the ecosystem at Cattai Creek is, in fact, thriving.
Now, researchers reckon that there could be 18 wild platypuses living in the creek that runs through Castle Hill to the Hawkesbury River, a fact that shows the water and biodiversity health in this region is doing far better than previously thought – particularly given how closely located the region is to densely populated urban areas, including train lines.
Subsequently, the Hills Shire Council is kicking into gear and trying to educate locals about how they can do their bit to help bring the platypuses back to the rivers near their homes for the first time in decades.
Residents will get to go to free monotreme (mammals that lay eggs, in case you’re wondering) workshops, where they’ll be taught about bushland restoration, how to keep local waterways healthy, and what pieces of rubbish they should be careful not to leave lying around – namely hairbands, elastic bands and plastic bags, with these bits of litter being seriously dangerous for platypuses.
So, if you live near Cattai Creek, keep your eyes peeled. You never know who you might find.