Platypus riches found
By Linda Vergnani
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Platypus riches found |
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| More than 500 farmers, residents and visitors responded to a community- based wildlife survey asking them to report on platypus and other animal sightings in the Bellinger Valley.
The survey, which received $10,000 of funding from the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, found platypuses were far more common than previously recorded. But it also highlighted the need for better management of the duck-billed animals' riverine habitat, including small streams where they shelter during and after floods. Dan Lunney, a principal research scientist of the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) who led the study, said it was highly unusual to ask local residents to participate in such research but the response had been outstanding. Residents marked the spots where they had seen platypus and other species on a map of the Bellinger catchment area. While platypus were noted at only five sites previously, the community recorded spotting these monotremes at 123 sites. Locals to protect habitat The study, just published in the magazine Proceedings of the Linnean Society of NSW, will be utilised to better manage and protect platypus habitat. Dan said "Any study of platypuses is important because the platypus on a world scale is an extraordinarily unusual animal, unlike bats or rodents or wild dogs." The only place in the world where the platypus occurs is the rivers and streams on the east coast of Australia, so it is vital to protect its habitat.” The Bellinger River flows through farmland and its banks have been damaged by cattle, road works and alien vegetation. Dan believes it was important to involve local residents in the survey because the river was a community resource, "You can't lock up a river". With one household in five involved in the study, people were far more committed to solutions like fencing land to prevent cows trampling platypus nests, which are in burrows on river banks. Foundation brings in overseas expert The study began with a 1996 field study in the Bellinger catchment led by Dan Lunney and DEC project officer Alison Matthews and Dr Tom Grant, a world authority on platypus. The Foundation funding enabled Grant, author of "The Playtpus, A Unique Mammal", to participate. He gave the other scientists invaluable advice on the best ways to net platypus.
The team searched for platypus along the river by canoe and did sightings from the banks. They observed platypus at 36 locations and netted them at three sites. Most were found along the Bellinger and Never Never rivers. This was followed by the 1997 community wildlife survey. As well as marking locations where they had seen platypus, residents were asked to identify spots where they had seen creatures like bandicoots and quolls. Dan says that the survey concentrated on distribution rather than numbers. The areas where the community reported seeing platypuses coincided with the locations the beasts were seen by the scientists. It revealed the river was "rich in platypus". The third phase was a follow-up community survey done after major flooding of the Bellinger in 2001. People who reported seeing platypuses in the first study were asked if they had made sightings since the flood. Just 21 people had visited the river of which seven spotted platypuses. Most platypus sightings were in tributaries, where is seemed the animals had sought refuge. The authors concluded that future conservation of platypuses could only be assured by preventing further degradation of its habitat and rehabilitation of damaged streams and rivers. Dan said the results would be conveyed to the various catchment management authorities so that the platypus habitat could be better protected. "For us the Foundation contribution to this study was invaluable". Abstracts
of articles published in Proceedings of the Linnean Society of NSW
are available online at http://www.acay.com.au/~linnsoc/welcome.html |
