Platypus spotting in Australia: where and when to look

Platypus spotting in Australia works best at dawn and dusk, beside calm, shaded water in the east of the country or in Tasmania. The animal is active all year, but mostly in twilight and at night. Go early or late, stand still, and watch the surface for ripples. Eungella National Park in Queensland, a few creeks and lakes in Tasmania, and some rivers in Victoria and New South Wales are good places to start.

This guide covers where platypus live, the best times to look, a few well known viewing spots, and how to watch without disturbing them.

Sources for this section: Australian Museum, Platypus; Australian Platypus Conservancy, Spotting Hints.

Where platypus live

Platypus live only in Australia, and only in fresh water. The Australian Museum says they are found in eastern Queensland and New South Wales, in eastern, central and south-western Victoria, and across Tasmania. They once lived in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, but they are gone from that state, apart from an introduced group at the western end of Kangaroo Island. There is no evidence that they ever lived naturally in Western Australia.

Look for a river, creek, lake or dam with earth banks and plants that shade the water. The platypus spends most of the day in a burrow in the bank. The Australian Platypus Conservancy adds that they also use weir pools, irrigation channels, dams and billabongs, and that they live from sea level up to at least 1,500 metres. They are not often seen in salty bays and estuaries.

Sources for this section: Australian Museum, Platypus; Australian Platypus Conservancy, Spotting Hints.

The best time of day

The Australian Platypus Conservancy says platypus are most likely to be seen early in the morning or late in the evening. They may also be active in the middle of the day. The Australian Museum notes that their pattern depends on place, human activity, temperature, day length and food. So a quiet spot with few people gives you better odds than a busy one.

Calm water helps a lot. On a still surface you can see the ripples a platypus makes as it swims and dives. A wind-ruffled pool is much harder to read.

Timing through the year matters a little too. Young platypus first leave their burrows from late January to early March in Victoria and New South Wales, according to the Conservancy. In Queensland this happens a few weeks earlier, and in Tasmania up to about two months later.

Sources for this section: Australian Platypus Conservancy, Spotting Hints; Australian Museum, Platypus.

Eungella National Park, Queensland

Eungella is the best known place in the north. The park sits in the Clarke Range, about 80 km west of Mackay, and Queensland Parks says the Broken River there is home to platypus.

A Queensland park ranger, speaking on ABC Radio Brisbane, said there is no shortage of platypus at Eungella and that patient visitors will see one. That fits the advice below: give it time. The park has toilets, picnic tables, gas barbecues, a volunteer-run information centre and a kiosk. Pets are not allowed in the national park.

Sources for this section: Queensland Parks and Forests, Eungella National Park, About.

Tasmania and the south

Tasmanian waters are a strong choice because platypus occur right across the island. Discover Burnie, run by Burnie City Council, lists many spots. These are a few of them:

• Fern Glade Reserve, Burnie: described as one of the most reliable places to see platypus in the wild in Tasmania. Vehicle access is limited from dusk to dawn, so plan to walk in.
• Cradle Mountain: Ronny Creek is the more common place to see one, and Dove Lake is less common.
• Lake St Clair: a lookout hide at Platypus Bay, 1.5 km along the track after Watersmeet Bridge.
• Mole Creek: Sassafras Creek, just downstream from Union Bridge.
• Stanley and Beauty Point: a twilight platypus tour at Stanley, and a guided tour at Platypus House in Beauty Point.

Sources for this section: Discover Burnie, Platypus Spotting in Burnie and Where to see platypus in Tasmania; Australian Platypus Conservancy, Spotting Hints.

How to spot one

A platypus often gives itself away before you see its body. Use these clues from the Conservancy and the Australian Museum:

• Ripples: a platypus holds still on the surface by paddling its front feet. This makes a bullseye pattern of ripples that grows as it dives.
• Short dives: it normally stays under for less than a minute, then pops up within 10 to 20 metres of where it went down.
• Low shape: only the top of the head and back, and sometimes a bit of tail, show above water. The Museum says a diving platypus arches its back and leaves a spreading ring.

Be careful with look-alikes. The native water-rat, or rakali, looks much the same at a distance. Beyond about 20 metres, even an experienced observer may not be able to tell them apart, especially in poor light. Up close, the rakali has a long, narrow tail with a white tip. The platypus has a flat, dark, paddle-like tail.

Sources for this section: Australian Platypus Conservancy, Spotting Hints; Australian Museum, Platypus.

Watching without disturbing them

The Conservancy says an alarmed platypus can hide underwater for 10 minutes or more. A bird flying overhead can be enough to cause that. If it vanishes and you move around, you may not see it again. These habits help:

• Arrive early or stay late, and then stay put.
• Keep your body low and your movements slow. Talk quietly, or not at all.
• Scan the water for ripples, not for a whole animal.
• Stay on marked tracks, as Queensland Parks asks, and keep pets at home.
• Never feed wildlife. Queensland Parks says human food is often harmful to animals.
• Do not try to touch one. Male platypus have a venomous spur on each hind ankle, the Australian Museum says.

The Australian Museum lists the platypus as near threatened, so every sighting is worth treating with care. Sightings are never guaranteed, so allow more than one visit if you can. Conditions and access change, so check with the local park or council before you go.

Sources for this section: Australian Platypus Conservancy, Spotting Hints; Queensland Parks and Forests, Eungella National Park, About; Australian Museum, Platypus.

Sources

1. Australian Museum, Platypus: australian.museum
2. Australian Platypus Conservancy, Hints on Spotting Platypus and Rakali: platypus.asn.au
3. Queensland Parks and Forests, Eungella National Park, About: parks.desi.qld.gov.au
4. Discover Burnie, Platypus Spotting in Burnie: burnie.tas.gov.au