![]() Because platypus is predators near the top of the food chain and requires large amounts of food to survive (up to about 30% of a given animal’s body weight each day), it is believed that their numbers are most often limited by the availability of food, mainly in the form of bottom-dwelling aquatic invertebrates such as shrimps, worms, yabbies, pea-shell mussels, and immature and adult aquatic insects. Based on recent studies, the average platypus population density along relatively good quality streams in the foothills of Victoria’s Great Dividing Range is only around one to two animals per kilometer of the channel. It is, therefore, impossible to provide an accurate estimate of the total number of platypus remaining in the wild. Platypus surveys have only been carried out in a few catchments in eastern Australia. In most cases, the specific underlying reasons for the reduction in numbers remain unknown. However, platypus populations are believed to have declined or disappeared in many catchments 1, particularly in urban and agricultural landscapes. Only the headline has been changed.Sample Reading Passage: In Australia, the platypus is officially classified as ‘Common but Vulnerable.’ As a species, it is not currently considered to be endangered. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. The strange-looking, duck-billed animals with webbed feet that lay eggs are mostly seen across Australia’s eastern seaboard, from the far north of Queensland state to the island state of Tasmania. ![]() The platypus is already listed as endangered in South Australia. ![]() Once on the vulnerable list, the government can deploy more resources to protect the animal’s habitat.Įach state in Australia makes their own classifications of vulnerable or endangered. The bushfires, which lasted from September last year until February, killed nearly 3 billion koalas, kangaroos and other Australian animals and destroyed a wilderness area the size of South Korea.Ī vulnerable tag is given to animals that face a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term, though are not considered critically endangered. “A lot of that area got burned by the recent bushfires, so the situation could actually be worse than what we think at the moment,” he said. Land-clearing for agriculture, mining and forestry had been the biggest factor in the destruction of habitat over several decades but last summer’s bushfires have greatly compounded the impact. “We have seen major declines in population in Victoria’s western regions, localised extinctions and the kind of things that are affecting the platypuses are going to increase in future,” Griffiths told Reuters. The platypus is listed as endangered in South Australia.(Unsplash)Įcologist Joshua Griffiths, who supervised the collection of data that led to the recommendation by a scientific advisory panel, said the platypus population across the state had likely fallen by about 30% in the last 20 to 30 years. Australian scientists have called for the platypus to be listed as a vulnerable species in Victoria state, after research found dwindling numbers of the semi-aquatic mammal because of loss of habitat and a warming climate.
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