Platypus: A Duck-billed, Egg-laying Mammal

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Speaker 1: I'm Ebony Money and I'm Rick Schwartz. Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of wildlife from around the world and uncovered fascinating animal facts. This podcast is a production of My Heart Radio in the San Diego Zoo, Wildlife Alliance and international nonprofit conservation organization behind the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. Today we're talking about an egg laying mammal. The platypus is so rare that when they were first discovered, European explorers had a hard time convincing scientists that they were real. Today we know they're real, but not too many people have ever seen one in person. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is currently the only zoo outside of Australia to house platypuses. Rick, that's pretty amazing. How did that come about? It really is amazing, Ebony. I can't stress enough just how special it is to have them here for all of us in San Diego and those who have visited them at the Safari Park. Bearer Wrung the male and Eve the female arrived from Australia's Torongo Zoos Sydney, but honestly, the whole thing started long before they even arrived in San Diego. Rick, what did it take to make all of that happen? Oh, well happening. It took a lot more than most people might think. But before we get into everything that happened for these two platypuses, I want to share something with our listeners that they may not know. Now, for most of our listeners, if not all of our listeners, they know about the conservation work that the San Diego Zoo Wildlifelines does all over the world. But what they may not know is that zoos work together across the world in many ways. We collaborate in wildlife care, species survival plans, conservation efforts, and so much more. And these kind of international collaborative efforts were a big part of making sure the platypuses were able to enjoy their move to the San Diego Zoo Safarire Park. We also work directly with the Australian government for le was on the move. I mean, like I said, a lot of things happened long before they landed here in San Diego. Some of the work in preparation for this included building a special, brand new habitat specifically for platypuses, with special water features, denning areas and outdoor access, custom lighting, and even special areas just for their food to be kept in. And then we sent staff over to Australia to work side by side with platypus care staff for several months so they could learn everything, and I mean everything they need to know about platypus care and health. But it didn't stop there. When it came time for Very Rung and Eve to come to San Diego, their team of humans came with them and stayed for several weeks here in San Diego to make sure everything went smoothly. It really was a big team effort to make sure everything went perfectly. I like that their team of humans, So it really took a lot of people, it sounds like, to make sure these two platypuses had everything they needed. Behind the scenes, How did the Torongo Zoo Sydney and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance go about transporting the two platypuses from one continent to another, well, have any Like I mentioned, there was a lot of staff involved making sure they had all the needed things for their move. The two were flowing to the US and specially designed platypus secure carriers for travel. These secure carriers had insulated panels, special ventilation cameras, as well as temperature and sound loggers, so this allowed us to really make sure everything was just perfect for them, and many months of preparation and training went into ensuring the successful transfer of the platypuses. It's really impressive to think this many people came together to make this happen. So what's all this hard work for. What's the benefit of learning about wildlife from the entire other side of the globe? Yeah? I mean this is really really important, and I'm so glad you asked that because a lot of times people look at the great efforts we go into for something like this and like, why would you spend that much time and money to do that? But see, here's the thing, like all wildlife at the San Diego Zoo or the San Diego Zoo Safire Park, when people have an opportunity to see them up close, their natural curiosity kicks in. They instantly want to learn more about that wildlife. And as they learn more about them, especially these unique mammals from Australia, they understand how important wildlife is and how many of them need our help. To ensure a safe and healthy future for all of them. These two platypuses at the Safire Park have inspired countless people from all over the world who have visited this fire park every day, helping us raise awareness for this unique species. And as people fall in love with them, well, guess what they want to protect them like we do, so that gets them involved in conservation, and when we all work together, conservation works so much better. I think it would be fair to say that these two are truly ambassadors for their kind. Enric You're a San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Ambassador. But what does it mean to be a wildlife ambassador? Well, Ebany, it's so very important to connect people with wildlife, especially on a personal level, and honestly, there's no better representative to do so than the wild life itself. I mean, sure, you can watch videos online and and see nature documents, all of which are very important components to learning more about wildlife, but when you can see them in person, you can see how they move, you can catch maybe a glimpse of them looking right back at you. Nothing can replace that personal connection. Wildlife ambassadors are individuals that help share the story and plight of their kind with the people who may otherwise never know about their species, much less the challenges they might face in the wild. So specifically, as wildlife ambassadors, what do the platypus is at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park helped to educate people about Honestly, for the platypus, that is very specific. You know, they help teach people about the importance of fresh water for both humans and wildlife. See platypus is in the wild are facing so many challenges with pollution in their waterways and the habitats being affected by climate change. When we see freshwater wildlife having these challenges, that means we will too. We all need healthy fresh water systems to live. That's just a simple fact. This is another example of how all life, humans, plants, and animals are interconnected. We all rely on the health of the same resources, and when we learn about what is happening to the charismatic platypus and other freshwater wildlife, we instinctively want to help. We can all be part of the solution and protect wildlife like the platypus through water conservation measures and practices that help slow or mitigate climate change. So rick the more that we talk about animals and different species, the more I've come to realize that oftentimes animals play a very important role in their habitats that maybe we don't even realize. So what's the role of the platypus in its environment? Yeah, and that's a really good question, because again we're talking about the fresh water wildlife and everything else, and platypus is as cute and as amazing and adorable and scientifically unusual as they are, they also do have a very important role in the whole ecosystem there. You know, they are consumers of shrimp, crayfish, insect larvae, worms, and other things, and then they're consumed by snakes and birds and other predators such as crocodiles, and so their role in part of that food chain is very important. And like anything, when we take out one of those links, or we lose one of those links in the food chain, everything starts to become unraveled. So, like any species out there, sometimes we have to look past their adorable nous or their curiosity or how interesting they are. But they do have a very important role in the ecosystem. Honestly, the more I learned about the platypus, the more I realized just how cool of an animal it is. It seems like an amazing experience to have a chance to see a platypus up close and personal at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Obviously, Rick the SAPARi Park is pretty big. Where can guess find the platypus. Yeah, you know, it's just about a year before the platypus has arrived at the Safari Park avenue we opened walk About Australia. This is a multi species habitat where you can stroll along kangaroos, wallabies and you know, even see the elusive and impressive Castlewary. But in that same area we also built that platypus habitat we're talking about earlier, where guests can see them swimming, eating, or just you know, taking a little nap. But if you're planning a visit specifically for them, and I'm talking to you listeners, if you're planning a visit just to visit our platypus, I always recommend heading up to the Walk About Australia are your first thing, because most animals tend to be active in the morning. Oh and if you want to see them, but you don't have time to visit the Safari parker, it's gonna be a while before you can visit. Here's your insider tip. Just go to the Safari Parks website s DZ Safari Park dot org and click on the Wildlife Live Cams and then select Platypus Cam and there you'll have it right in front of you, a front row seat to the main pool of the platypus habitat. And you can click on that whenever you want lunch break, you know, weekends, whatever, you whenever you want to enjoy some platypus time. You're full of all kinds of tips. Just ahead, we're going to talk to the lead wild left care specialists working with mammals at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Louisa Choa and Veterinary Clinical Operations Manager Meredith Clancy. But first this now it's time for the San Diego Zoom Minute, an opportunity for you to learn what's new at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. A ten year old boy and his family received a San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance lifetime membership card as part of the ongoing celebration of the San Diego Zoo Safire Parks fiftieth Anniversary made ten to mark fifty years since the opening of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. On that day, Ethan was the fiftieth guests to enter the Safarire Park. The gift allows for unlimited visits to the Safarire Park and San Diego Zoo, where he can explore and connect with wildlife for years to come. Did you know the word platypus is derived from a Greek word meaning flat foot. The correct plural ending is s, making platypus is preferred over platypi. I don't know. I want to introduce Louise oh Choa, a lead wildlife care specialists working with mammals at the San Diego Zoos Safari Park, and Meredith Clancy, the veterinary Clinical Operations manager, also at the San Diego Zoos Safari Park. Hi, Hi there, Hi, thanks for having us. Yes, So the San Diego Zoue Safari Park has cared for the platypus is now for just over two years. Louise, what can you tell us about their habitat there at the Safari Park? So our two platypus have a house that was built just for them. And right now the two platypus have access to three huge pools that the guests can see themselves. So both of our platypus have access to those three areas, and then they have a holding area in the back. They have some tunnels, they have some nest boxes, a huge container of dirt that we call the earth tank that just has a couple of feet of dirt and other material that our platypus will grow through. Yeah, that's just the part building. So just curious, why does the platypus um need so much access to all that water? Are are you mimicking their natural habitat or what's happening? Yeah, So platypus are found on the eastern most the Eastern coast and southern coast of Australia. They are semi aquatic mammals and they do most of their hunting for food and foraging in the water. So we have to provide them that same ability here at the Safari Park. So in the wild, when platypus hunt for food, they close their eyes, they close their ears and they go into water and they rely on something in their bill called an electric receptor. So in order for us to mimic that, we have to kind of do the same thing. So we have large pools of water and inside those pools of water we offer them a few different types of food. In the wild, most of the calories from platypus come from crayfish or in Australia they called them yabbies, So we do the same up here at the park. We give them some preefish. We put them in the pools and they have to be live the platypus to find them. Those are electric receptors in the bill will activate once they're swimming in the water and they'll pick up small signals from living animals and that will help them really hone in on where that moving venions in the water. So, Maren, the platypuses are such a unique animal. How did you and your team prepared to care for such a unique animal? That's such a great question. We definitely had to do a lot of preparation to think about having this brand new species to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance family. So we were very fortunate. We have friends at the Tarronga Zoo that we're really helpful and instrumental in making sure that we understood the unique needs of this special creature and also understood what kind of habitat they needed, their special diet, and then even little small things like the transport crates or how we were going to feed them and how we would source those foods. I think the other really awesome thing that we got to do when we were introducing this species into our wonderful Australia habitat was really learn a lot about monotreams and platypus in particular, and how it is that, what kind of medicine they need, what kind of care by humans they need when they're living with us, and then learn a lot about their story as how they exist out in the wild. And that allowed us to really know and be ready as ready as you can be right before the platypus arrived to be able to house them and really provide for them a unique habitat for them to thrive in. So we've talked a lot about the fact that platypuses are so unique, but what exactly makes the unique? What's like an example of what makes them just stand out? Well, they are a special type of mammal. So I guess if we start off from that point of you and I, and most animals that we see in zoo settings are mammals, so they are warm blooded, they have hair, they could produce milk, and that's where a lot of the similarities that platypus have with other animals, and that's kind of where it stops. And that's really what makes some unique because they have a bunch of little things and characteristics from other groups or species and they kind of put them all together in one animal. So sometimes they're referred to as duck build platypus, so they're build in the front of their face. It's just called a duck bill, but it actually that's that's that's much of the very resemblance to an actual duck bill. It's not very hard like a bird beak would be. It's kind of soft and pliable, kind of feels like a wet race or like on a pencil, And when you really take an intense look at it, you can see the pores on there and really that's where the elector receptors live, and that's a really unique way that a mammal would hunt in general. So then moving down its body from those luct receptors, they don't really have the best vision. They're mostly nocturnal animals. Most of their hunting is underwater, and then they live in burrows underground, so they don't really have to need good vision. Um they have a nice little double coat because they are really good allowed cold tolerance. Not really good about heat, but they can stand cold. This pretty well. Never really unique stomach to them as well. They kind of go straight from their esophagus right into the intestines, so it's a really basic kind of g I trap. And then they have their spur. The males are born with the venomous spur, which is really unique for ma. Almost a lot of mammals have that ability. They are venomous when they are breeding season, and so when platypus are born, both males and females, they del a small little spur brought on the inside of their bottom two feet, and as they grow and mature, the males will continue to develop that females will eventually drop that off. But when a male hits full maturity and he's an adult he which is about two years old, they will have that venom start to be produced, and in the breeding season it'll definitely increase production. So that's in a gist roundabout way that. Oh, and and they lay eggs too, by the way, So all these different two So they have spurs, they have bills, they lay eggs, just all sorts of weird things. Dr Clans, Do you have anything to add so much? I'm sure I was gonna just say, I think, um, yeah. The fact that they're egg laying mammals makes them pretty unique, and paired with their cousin the only other montorym that's still alive, which is the achidna, which we also have at the San Diego Zu Safari Park. But it's so unique that they lay eggs, and it was actually not a fact that most people knew about those animals, And we still really don't understand a lot of what happens. When a platypus mom to be goes into her burrow, she lays an egg. It takes about two weeks for it to hatch, but that about is about as clear as we can be, and then it slowly develops the puggle, which is the name for a baby platypus or a baby a kidney. The puggle slowly develops into its more adult type features. But a lot of that information we're still learning a lot about but I think the way Luise put it where they kind of have borrowed from birds, they fired a little bit of their skeletal anatomy from reptiles, how they excrete waste, and how they process food. So they're like a little unique package of all the best methods that work out for them to be. Like, we've talked about a semi aquatic mammal, So the fact that the platypus is venomous, how does that impact your work if at all? Yeah, I think it probably impacts a lot of the work that Louise would have to do and his teammates if they're having to handle or move the mail platypus. We just have to be very cautious to make sure that we're being both safe for the animal and safe for the people. And Louise can probably talk more about it, but there's a very specialized training to make sure that you can hold the animal by the tail and staying away from that venomous spur. But for our team, what it often means is if we need to do something with that male platypus, we would need to give that animal sedatives or anesthetics so that it would be asleep and that way it's not stressed and it's not thinking about needing to invenomate anyone, and we can make sure that we're staying far away from the potential danger zone and Louise. So the platypus is not only venomous, but it's also nocturnal. How does some of these characteristics impact the work of you and your team? I presented a whole new challenge when I started working with the platypus, because not only do we when we enter the platypus house as a guest, who notice it's pretty dark going in, and then um, you know when you're looking at the platypus there in their nighttime. We have a reverse light cycle at the platypus house, but we did recently at the Platypus house is actually match at the time in Sydney, Australia to the time inside the platypus house in San Diego. So right now, what we want to try to do is to get the platypus to feel and experience the same sunlight as the platypus in city would experience. So if in the summer they have longer days, that system is going to know and it's going to adjust that lighting period. So the biggest challenge for us moving forward from here is just wrapping my brain around this time change and all these kind of things, and when the seasons change. We also, because we are inside a platypus house and you can kind of control some of the things, we try to have environmental changes in queues go along as well. So try and wrap my head around what does that mean would a platypus in the wild experience at that time, and how can we keep the platypus in that same time frame? So what's the benefit of learning um and taking such great detail to learn about a species from the other side of the globe. So one of the really neat things about the platypus and a lot of our Australian mammal counterparts and all the animals that we care for in our Australia team is that Australia is very similar to southern California in some of the threats that are wildlife and even are people that live with wildlife face. There's a lot of habitat destruction, there's a lot of drought and lack of water, which if you're a semi aquatic mammal like the platypus. You really need those rivers to be there, and there's wildfire risk, some of that mitigated by climate change. So I think one of the neat things is that the platypus can serve as an ambassador that maybe outside of the Southwest wildlife that we have that can also tell that story. It's a really unique animal for people to come to San Diego and see and be able to maybe resonate with some of those thoughts and concerns about, you know, us caring for wildlife both under human care and out in the wild. I think the other really unique thing is outside of getting on a plane and flying to Sydney or many of the other cities in Australia, you're not going to be able to see a platypus because they don't exist outside of Australia except for our too lucky ambassadors that we have here. So it's a really opportunity for our guests and those that are able to come to the Safari Park to be able to experience this really truly amazing creature that they may not otherwise be able to see. Louise, what's the best part of your position in your favorite thing about working with the platypus. I'd say my favorite part about working at the platypus house and the platypus is going up to the guest side when the park is open and looking at guests, watching them look at the platypus for the first time. I think it's really special, really unique opportunity. Sometimes people say, when they see a platypus, let's say, how much smaller it is, and they originally thought just how different it looks, and they'll just kind of stand and stare at the platypus for a few minutes, And I just that's a really unique opportunity I think for anybody to see. So that's a favorite part in Meredith. I think for me, the platypus really represents that there's so much for us to continue to learn, and even years into your career, you get to experience working with a new species or learning more about how to take better care of the wildlife under our care. And it's a privilege to be entrusted to care for those two and get to become almost an expert in an animal that you never thought you would be lucky enough to work with. Thank you so much. It has been great talking with you both. We've been speaking with Louise Ochoa, a lead wildlife care specialists working with mammals at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and Meredith Clancy, the veterinary clinical Operations manager at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Thanks for listening. We hope you learned a lot about the platypus. Be sure to subscribe and tune into next week's episode, in which we bring to the story of a kangaroo species known as the Ghost of the Forest. I'm Epony Money and I'm Rich Schwartz. Thanks for listening. If you would like to find out more about San Diego Zoo WILDLFE Alliance, please visit sdz w a dot org. Amazing Wildlife is a production of I Heart Radio. Our producer is Nikkia Swinton and our executive producer is Marcia de Peanut. Our audio engineer and editor is Sierra Spreen. For more shows from My Heart Radio, check out the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.