DNA sampling of 'weird' Australian icon the platypus has students leading conservation efforts

Updated September 25, 2017 11:52:53

Guest reporter Barnie Beckley tells us why he wants to help find platypuses Video: Guest reporter Barnie Beckley tells us why he wants to help find platypuses (ABC News)

Along a river bank somewhere near Stawell in western Victoria, 12-year-old Tobie Ripper has been collecting water samples in the hope of tracing the DNA of three native wildlife species, including the elusive platypus.

Tobie is one of eight local primary school students taking part in a cutting-edge program that is using DNA samples from waterways along the Wimmera Catchment to trace platypus, blackfish and native water-rat populations.

But for Tobie, the duck-billed mammal is the main concern.

"It's a very interesting creature, it's got very weird features — like it's got a duck's beak, kind of, and big tail, webbed feet, and it's got fur ... and poison barbs," he said.

"That's just weird."

"And it's one of the two only mammals that lay eggs, as well," said 11-year-old Annie Smethurst, at a site 20 kilometres east on a river near Glenorchy.

Tobie and Annie were just two of the students not-for-profit group Project Platypus organised to spend a day taking DNA samples and learning about the platypus.

"I see the students as the key to this, we're looking for ambassadors to the species," Project Platypus manager John Pye said, adding that the students were already associating threats such as fishing to the native species' decline.

"The use of opera house yabby nets and yabby pots are probably one of the bigger threats to the platypus in that the platyus will follow a yabbie into them, can't get out and within two minutes they drown," he said.

"The students are already talking about talking to the fishing groups and making them aware of it because it seems like it's more of a lack of awareness than actually deliberately targeting them."

Local platypus population close to extinction

Ecologist Josh Griffiths has been researching platypus populations along the Wimmera Catchment for around 15 years.

In that time, he said the local population has dwindled to near northing.

"The area was really badly affected by the millennium drought, so a lot of the waterways virtually dried up completely. And of course once the water goes this species disappears as well," he said.

"We haven't had any confirmed records of platypus in the upper Wimmera for probably a decade now.

"There's been a few unconfirmed sightings and what we're trying to do is work out whether those sightings are true and whether there's a few animals hiding around the place."

A relatively new, yet simple scientific method extracts DNA from waterways through a very fine filter, attached to the end of a syringe.

"Whether it's through skins cells, hair, scales of fish, even urine and faeces that go into the water — that's all got DNA in it," Mr Griffiths said.

"Genetic techniques are now powerful enough and cheap enough that we can take a water sample, filter that DNA out, and be able to detect certain species."

While testing for DNA requires trained lab staff and expensive equipment, taking the samples from waterways is straightforward.

"The sampling technique is relatively easy with a bit of training," Mr Griffiths said.

"This technique provides the opportunity for community members and school kids to be involved with this really cutting edge science."

Project Platypus is also aiming to take DNA samples from around 40 other sites in the Wimmera Catchment thanks to a $35,000 grant from the Wimmera Catchment Management Authority.

"With that information there we can then start saying 'okay, there's no platypus here, hang on, we've found signs of platypus here'," Mr Pye said.

"We'll do further investigation and then start looking at the sorts of landscape changes that will facilitate improvements to the river health and therefore supports a platypus population."

Project Platypus is expected to finalise the DNA results by the end of the year.

Topics: animals, animals-and-nature, environment-education, environmental-management, environmental-health, stawell-3380, ballarat-3350, horsham-3400

First posted September 25, 2017 09:59:36