Juvenile platypus found in Royal National Park. Video from Taronga Zoo.
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02:43 >> So it's been about ten months now since we released platypuses into
02:46 the Royal National Park.
02:47 We came out here to do some surveys.
02:50 The first objective was to see if the individuals that we released were
02:54 doing well, if they were healthy, how their body condition was.
02:58 Very excitingly, we have come out tonight and we've captured a juvenile
03:01 female platypus.
03:03 So yeah, over the moon about that.
03:05 It means the conditions here are really good for platypus breeding.
03:08 And just after one year of having the animals in the park, I'm ecstatic.
03:13 I'm just really happy to have had that outcome.
03:16 So yeah, amazing.
03:18 >> Congrats, guys.
03:20 >> Gila, do you wanna see if you can do some of the veg with that?
03:25 >> Darling.
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03:29 >> So first thing I'm taking here is a swab.
03:32 So from the cloaca, so platypuses, they have a cloaca.
03:36 So one hole for like urine, feces, and reproduction.
03:40 And so we'll take a swab there.
03:42 So we're looking at the microbiome in the stomach of platypuses.
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03:50 >> So it might be a bit hard for everyone to see.
03:51 When you come closer, you'll be able to have a look.
03:54 But the females are born with this tiny, residual spur.
03:57 So it's this tiny, tiny little, almost like a match head size spur here,
04:02 which you'll lose between six and nine months of age.
04:05 And after that point, we won't be able to tell how old this female is.
04:10 But because she's emerged this year, which means, as I said,
04:14 she probably came out of the nest about a month ago for this area.
04:18 Hopefully some of our work, we might be able to better refine that.
04:21 But yeah, so amazing.
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04:26 >> Platypuses, they have a tick species which is unique to them,
04:30 only found on platypuses.
04:32 Generally, they'll get like a tick burden on these hind legs,
04:37 sometimes on the rump and into the tail, and occasionally like in this area.
04:42 But she's only got one single tiny tick.