Platypus endangered by traps

Australian Platypus Conservancy, ScienceAlert 31 Aug 09;

One of Australia’s most unusual animals, the platypus, is being put at risk by yabby traps. “Opera house” traps and other enclosed yabby traps are killing platypuses, as well as other native species such as turtles, Australian water-rats and water birds. Up to five dead platypuses have been recovered from a single trap.

Now a conservation coalition, including the Australian Platypus Conservancy, Dr Tom Grant from the University of NSW (one of Australia’s leading platypus biologists) and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland are joining forces to call for measures to reduce the death toll.

Dr Melody Serena from the Australian Platypus Conservancy noted that platypuses are probably particularly vulnerable to being killed because yabbies form part of their natural diet. “Once lured into a trap, a platypus will drown in less than three minutes,” she said. “If a breeding female is killed in this way during the summer months (which is the most common time of the year for such traps to be set) then any dependent babies waiting in the nursery burrow for her return will slowly starve to death”.

While the platypus is not regarded as a threatened species, numbers have already declined in many places because of habitat degradation, while prolonged drought and major floods are creating further difficulties. In this context, unnecessary deaths caused by yabby traps can potentially tip the balance against the long-term survival of some local platypus populations, especially in small streams where overall numbers are often quite low anyway.

Dr Grant said that there was considerable confusion about the use of yabby traps because of different regulations in each state and even within parts of the same state.

“In essence,” he said, “opera house traps have been banned in public waters in Victoria, the ACT, much of NSW and all of Tasmania because of the threat that they pose to aquatic wildlife. Unfortunately, they are still legal in Queensland. Until there is uniform national legislation, it is imperative that anglers make themselves fully aware of the regulations in the state where they are yabbying since heavy fines and/or prison sentences can apply for illegal use of traps and nets. This is particularly important for inter-state travellers – for example, fisheries inspectors have already reported problems with some Queensland “grey nomads” bringing their opera house nets with them when they visit Tasmania.”

More importantly, the platypus conservation coalition believes that recreational anglers should consider using hoop-style lift nets or baited lines with no hooks as alternatives to opera house traps. These methods pose a lesser risk to platypus and other wildlife, although specified bag-limits for yabbies must still be observed, since over-harvesting threatens crayfish populations. The coalition is also calling on angling and outdoor retailers to consider phasing out the sale of opera house traps and instead stock only safer alternatives, such as lift nets.

“It is difficult for shops selling yabby traps to know the full details of the law, especially if they are located close to state boundaries,” noted Dr Grant. “Most retailers would have no idea that they are inadvertently selling people platypus death-traps for a few dollars. Therefore, we are hoping that most shops will do the right thing and quit selling opera house nets altogether.”

It is also hoped that more members of the community will look out for the illegal use of nets and report them immediately to state fisheries and wildlife officers. Likewise, people finding a dead platypus or other animal in a yabby trap or other illegal fishing gear, such as nets, are asked to report the details so that better information can be collected about the scale of the current problem.

The platypus is dependent on water bodies for its food and with predictions suggesting that much of its present range will become drier as climate change progresses, the platypus needs all the help it can get. Eliminating deaths in yabby traps will make an important contribution to the long-term survival of this unique mammal.