San Diego Zoo Safari Park Platypus at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

The Safari Park has officially announced their arrival on their social media accounts

San Diego Zoo Safari Park on Twitter

"It’s an historic day! We’re proud to announce the arrival of 2 platypuses from Australia & the opening of the Nelson M. Millsberg Platypus Habitat at our Walkabout Australia. The platypuses came here from the @tarongazoo to be ambassadors for their species."
 
It’s been awesome to watch this go from only a rumor to a real thing. I plan on visiting when I head back to California for winter break.
 
solanaskyes said:
The Platypus exhibit opened yesterday, and we went to see them today. Plan to spend some time waiting, there was about a 45 minute wait to get into the exhibit today, but they were not limiting the amount of time you could spend watching them. Fascinating creatures.
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Thanks for the review. Did you have any problems spotting the platypus, or was it active while you were viewing it?
 
solanaskyes said:
The Platypus exhibit opened yesterday, and we went to see them today. Plan to spend some time waiting, there was about a 45 minute wait to get into the exhibit today, but they were not limiting the amount of time you could spend watching them. Fascinating creatures.
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Do happen to have taken any photos of the animals or the exhibit?
 
The main viewing area of the exhibit is divided into three pools, with waterfalls connecting them. The male, Birra, was quite active in the third, uppermost pool, and very easy to view. I was able take some videos of him swimming and playing in the waterfall. I only caught a brief glimpse of the female, Eve, who was swimming in some foliage towards the back of the middle pool. They have a lot of places to hide, both in the water and on the land parts of the exhibit, so viewing might not always be easy. The keeper said both of them love to roll around and play in the waterfalls, and indeed, Birra was doing a lot of that.
 
My family stays at a resort near the park a few times a year. My brother and godfather happened to be staying in Escondido this week. I prodded them repeatedly to go on Friday, and they did. they got to be among the first to see them when it opened (within the first hour). I didn't see any photos, as flash photography was prohibited. They both said that the platypuses were quite active and the habitat was outstanding, as expected.
 
I'm assuming San Diego got 1.1 in order to attempt breeding? If they were successful in not only housing, but breeding platypus, do you think other zoos would feel a lot more comfortable housing them? What zoos do you guys think would acquire platypus next?
 
EsserWarrior said:
I'm assuming San Diego got 1.1 in order to attempt breeding? If they were successful in not only housing, but breeding platypus, do you think other zoos would feel a lot more comfortable housing them? What zoos do you guys think would acquire platypus next?
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I would honestly say Bronx (if they decide to go into conservation programs in Australia), Omaha (retrofitting the current Johnston's crocodile pool to have multiple nesting chambers and different levels) or even an aquarium like Baltimore, unless platypus don't occur in the area that Baltimore depicts. (What about Monterey Bay? Unless it detracts from the theme, but then again they had a temporary exhibit featuring otters from the Congo and from Borneo so... *shrugs*)
 
EsserWarrior said:
I'm assuming San Diego got 1.1 in order to attempt breeding? If they were successful in not only housing, but breeding platypus, do you think other zoos would feel a lot more comfortable housing them? What zoos do you guys think would acquire platypus next?
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The female is on the older side, and platypus breeding in captivity as a whole is relatively difficult. It is unlikely that the pair will breed, but they are in a position that most encourages it (ie the Safari Park even brought in the preferred substrate for platypus breeding). From a captive breeding standpoint, it really made little sense for the platypus to be brought to the US. The captive population in Australia itself is low, and the species really won’t have much of a captive future without further breeding. It wouldn’t make sense for Australian zoos to continue to export platypus, so I would expect any other individuals to have to be produced at the safari park.
 
I think it is extremely unlikely that any other USA facilities will get this species. However, if by a miracle one did, my vote (that no one has mentioned yet) would be Albuquerque. They have a dedicated and expanding Australia section, they were the first along with San Diego to get Tasmanian devils, they have saltwater crocs, and they have the only Tasmanian wombats in USA.
 
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