5 October 2009 

For the first time in 10 years, Platypus experts met last month to discuss all things webbed, billed and absolutely unique to Australia. Jess Thomas, Senior Platypus Keeper at Healesville Sanctuary attended the two-day conference in Hobart.

Conservation of these precious mammals is vital to Jess, Healesville Sanctuary and others in her field. This conference was an opportunity to present scientific findings, discussions of its implications and also a chance to mingle with like-minded peers.

Healesville Sanctuary is internationally renowned for its role in Platypus care and research and was the first in the world to breed this unique creature in captivity. In the 1933, the Sanctuary was the first organisation to successfully keep and display the species. In the 1943, the Sanctuary hatched the first Platypus ever bred in captivity, an event that made front-page news in London and New York. It took 55 years to repeat that success with the birth of twin Platypus in 1998. Since then, Healesville Sanctuary has bred three more times with four babies.

"I really enjoyed the conference because it gave me the chance to meet others who love working with Platypus as much as I do," Jess said. It also gave us a chance to identify the major threats to platypus and come up with a united strategy for their conservation."