A new female platypus has been found in Mackenzie river near Wartook in the latest platypus surveys conducted by EnviroDNA.

The platypus survey took place on 15-16 April. In one of the survey locations a single female was captured travelling upstream at Zumsteins at approximately 1:45am on Tuesday.

The female adult weighed 1.2kg and inspection showed no ticks and she had a good tail fat index (The current standard method of body condition assessment in the platypus is the tail volume index).

Through public consultation our latest female platypus has been named “April”.

This is great news for the future population of the species in the river; there has been a number of males found in recent years so finding a female is important.

The environmental water flows into the system has helped to keep the population to prosper especially, after the millennium drought.