World’s First Platypus Sanctuary<br />to Be Built in Australia.<br />On Wednesday, conservationists in Australia unveiled<br />plans to build the world’s first-ever refuge for platypuses. .<br />The sanctuary will promote breeding and<br />rehabilitation of the semiaquatic mammal.<br />The specialist facility will<br />be built through the<br />combined efforts of the<br />Taronga Conservation<br />Society Australia and<br />the New South Wales<br />State government.<br />It will consist of mostly ponds and burrows and be<br />located at a zoo that is 243 miles away from Sydney. .<br />The sanctuary is to be built by<br />2022 and house up to 65 platypuses. .<br />Platypuses have been at a heightened risk of<br />extinction since wildfires devastated 31 million<br />acres of Australian land in late 2019-2020.<br />A government inquiry concluded that<br />bushfires would be more likely to<br />occur due to warming temperatures<br />caused by climate change. .<br />Before the bushfires, the Taronga Conservation Society<br />Australia noted that an increased number of platypuses were<br />experiencing “climate-related injuries and illnesses.”.<br />There is so much to learn about the<br />platypus and we know so little … These<br />facilities will be critical in building our<br />knowledge so that we don’t let this<br />iconic creature slip off the earth, Cameron Kerr, CEO of Taronga Conservation<br />Society Australia, via Reuters
