YACTAC (the Yanco Creek and Tributaries Advisory Council) recently completed an eDNA survey of the Yanco Creek system. Many of the landholders in the area were unaware of the number of platypus in the major creeks in the area (Yanco, Colombo and Billabong). So it was decided to have a public meeting to release the results of the findings to both the landholders and interested public.
The meeting at Morundah featured three specialists in platypus habitat – Geoff Williams from the Australian Platypus Conservancy gave insight on key findings from YACTAC’s platypus report; Dr Joanne Connolly from Charles Sturt University spoke about the platypus locally and what can be done to improve habitat; and Kathie Le Busque from ANU Sustainable Farms spoke about enhancing farm dams for environmental and agricultural outcomes. A field walk was arranged to see firsthand the characteristics of suitable platypus habitat and to learn useful methods of platypus spotting.
The YACTAC report on platypus in the Yanco Creek system can be viewed here.
