Two decades of data suggest platypus numbers have increased in pools along the Upper Shoalhaven River

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-08-10 00:01

Australia; NSW

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

Data collected by capturing platypuses in the wild, tagging them and returning them suggests that the platypus population in pools in the Upper Shoalhaven River in NSW has grown over 20 years, even with a severe drought. The researchers found that modelling the total population based on the numbers of adult females captured was a reliable way to estimate annual numbers of platypuses.

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Journal/
conference: Australian Mammalogy

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Southern Cross University, The University of New South Wales

Funder: No specific funding

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