A surprisingly high percentage (3%) of 391 reported platypus mortalities recorded by the APC from 1989 to mid-2024 occurred after an animal was sucked into an irrigation pump or mini-hydroelectric generator (Serena et al. 2025). Juveniles and breeding age females appear to be particularly likely to die this way, especially in places where pump sheds are located on elevated banks that provide the best available habitat for platypus nesting burrows in low-lying irrigation districts.
What can be done to help protect the platypus?
- To prevent platypus and other wildlife (including large native fish and turtles) from being sucked into water pumps or water-powered generators, gridded or mesh covers (or some other exclusion device) should be fitted around all water intake points.
- Trials conducted in the Gunbower irrigation district in autumn (when irrigation pumps are most likely to be blocked by aquatic vegetation) have confirmed that special screening devices are now available that can deal effectively with large amounts of floating plant material (with one such device shown operating above). Pumping volumes may also be improved by installing this type of technology, providing a practical benefit for irrigators (Bretzel et al. 2023).
Photo: Nicholas Rowlands
LITERATURE CITED
Bretzel J, Doyle K, Vu AV and Baumgartner L (2023) Preliminary key findings of the Gunbower Creek pump screen investigations 2023. Report prepared for North Central CMA by Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Albury NSW.
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.