The earliest evidence that the platypus was hunted and eaten by Aboriginal Australians consists of bones found in caves occupied between 13,000 and 30,000 years ago (Marshall 1992).
Carnivorous marsupials (spotted-tailed quoll Dasyurus maculatus and Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii), eagles (white-bellied sea eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster and wedge-tailed eagle Aquila audax), other birds of prey such as grey goshawks Accipiter novaehollandiae, and carpet pythons Morelia spilota have all be implicated as platypus predators (Burrell 1927; Richards 1986; Munday et al. 1998; Rakick et al. 2001; Dawson et al. 2007; Seale 2008). Given that a rakali (a.k.a. Australian water-rat Hydromys chrysogaster) can kill reasonably large waterbirds, it may also sometimes prey on platypus (particularly small juveniles), although there are no actual records of this occurring. Circumstantial evidence (the nature of injuries sustained by dead animals) suggests that domesticated or feral house cats may also be platypus predators, particularly on small juveniles active on the bank or in shallow water (Dr Rosemary Booth, pers. comm.). Predation was deemed to be responsible for 13% of all platypus mortalities with an identifiable cause reported to the APC from 1989 to 2024, and 28% of the sick or injured platypus rescued by members of the public and taken to Healesville Sanctuary for veterinary assessment from 2005 to 2024 (Serena et al. 2025).
The most significant platypus predators in recent decades are almost certainly domesticated dogs and introduced foxes (which often start by chewing off first the head and then forelimbs, as shown above). Dog attacks were the leading cause of platypus mortalities in a Tasmanian study conducted in the 1990s (Connolly et al. 1998), and combined dog and fox attacks were believed to be responsible for 88% of mortalities related to predation in a Victorian study conducted by the APC from the 1980s to 2010, with the rest attributed to birds of prey (Serena and Williams 2010).
While many parasites and microorganisms have been detected in or on a platypus, few are known to cause clearly harmful disease (reviewed by Munday et al. 1998; Booth and Connolly 2008). In 1982, people began reporting that platypus in some parts of Tasmania were developing skin ulcers, with some animals dying. The causative agent was eventually found to be a fungus, Mucor amphibiorum, which can infect frogs and has been found in Queensland soil samples. It was therefore suggested that the fungus may have been introduced to Tasmania via infected frogs shipped accidentally from northern Australia in boxes of tropical fruit. Interestingly, Mucor is not known to harm platypus anywhere on the Australian mainland, suggesting that mainland animals are naturally resistant to infection. In line with this possibility, the frequency of Mucor infection in Tasmanian platypus declined steeply from the 1990s to 2008-2009, presumably because animals have become progressively more resistant and/or that the fungus has become less virulent over time (Connolly et al. 1998; Munday et al. 1998; Gust et al. 2009).
The platypus has its own species of tick (Ixodes ornithorhynchi, shown at left). Ticks mainly cluster on and near the ankles and normally don’t seem to harm their host. They do serve to transmit two types of blood parasites (Theileria ornithorhynchi and Trypanosoma binneyi), though these again rarely cause actual illness (Munday et al. 1998; Booth and Connolly 2008).
Photos courtesy of Ted Donelan (below); APC (above)
LITERATURE CITED
Booth R and Connolly J (2008) Platypuses. Pp 103-132 in Medicine of Australian Mammals (L Vogelnest and R Woods, eds) CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood VIC.
Burrell H (1927) The Platypus. Angus & Robertson: Sydney.
Connolly JH, Obendorf DL, Whittington RJ and Muir DB (1998) Causes of morbidity and mortality in platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) from Tasmania, with particular reference to Mucor amphibiorum infection. Australian Mammalogy 20, 177-187.
Dawson JP, Claridge AW, Triggs B and Paull DJ (2007) Diet of a native carnivore, the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), before and after an intense wildfire. Wildfire Research 34, 342-351.
Gust N, Griffiths J, Driessen M, Philips A, Stewart N and Geraghty D (2009) Distribution, prevalence and persistence of mucormycosis in Tasmanian platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Australian Journal of Zoology 57, 245-254.
Marshall B (1992) Late Pleistocene human exploitation of the platypus in southern Tasmania. Pp 268-276 in Platypus and Echidnas (ML Augee, ed.) Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Mosman NSW.
Munday BL, Whittington RJ and Stewart NJ (1998) Disease conditions and subclinical infections of the playtpus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Part B 353, 1093-1099.
Rakick R, Rakick B, Cook L and Munks S (2001) Observations of a platypus foraging in the sea and hunting of a pltypus by a wedge-tailed eagle. The Tasmanian Naturalist 123, 2-4.
Richards GC (1986) Predation on a platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus (Monotremata: Ornithorhynchidae), by a goshawk. Australian Mammalogy 9, 67.
Seale J (2008) Sea-eagle takes platypus. Boobook 25, 6.
Serena M, and Williams G (2010) Factors contributing to platypus mortality in Victoria. The Victorian Naturalist 127, 178-183.
Serena M, Williams GA and Thomas JL (2025) Factors contributing directly to platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) mortality and implications for conserving populations in the wild. Australian Mammalogy 47, AM24032.