What can America do to get Australia to give us a platypus?

[Michael]

I have been lucky enough to see platypus in the wild and at several Australian facilities. I even had an opportunity to hold one. I can say it was the softest fur I've ever touched. I believe Taronga hatched out twins at some point and a Japanese zoo/government had offered $100,000 for the them. Obviously this offer was turned down.
In that same time period someone in Japan had offered the same amount to the Colombian government for a pair of mountain tapirs. That didn't happen either.

 

[nanoboy]

Given that platypuses can be found in the wild fairly easily in Australia, have any made it on to the black market and into the hands of unscrupulous collectors in the last few years? The price that they would command, oh my.

 

[Chlidonias]

Given that platypuses can be found in the wild fairly easily in Australia, have any made it on to the black market and into the hands of unscrupulous collectors in the last few years? The price that they would command, oh my.

they would be very difficult to smuggle, so I would say "no".

 

[DavidBrown]

they would be very difficult to smuggle, so I would say "no".

I can see it being a sitcom plot. Character attempts to smuggle platypus by hiding it in his pants and gets envenomated. Hijinks ensue.

 

[tschandler71]

It would be hilarious when they bust a Pablo Escobar level figure in the Mexican Cartels he has like a private collection with Okapi, Platypus, Bigfoot, Nessie, and Dinosaurs from Isla Sorna.

 

[nanoboy]

It would be hilarious when they bust a Pablo Escobar level figure in the Mexican Cartels he has like a private collection with Okapi, Platypus, Bigfoot, Nessie, and Dinosaurs from Isla Sorna.

I wouldn't put it past them.

Hmmm..... a platypus in a tank on a ship doesn't seem too far fetched though Chlidonias, if there were a client funding the operation at the other end.

 

[Chlidonias]

Hmmm..... a platypus in a tank on a ship doesn't seem too far fetched though Chlidonias, if there were a client funding the operation at the other end.

well it would be possible, but the thing with platypus is that they have quite specific requirements for staying alive under long-distance transportation. It's not the same as putting a water rat in a box or a lungfish in a tub of water. When being shipped overseas to the Bronx they went in specially-designed "platypusaries", and that's quite apart for the sheer amount of food that would need to be on hand for the trip*. Obviously enough money and corrupt contacts could make it happen, but it does seem extremely unlikely.


*A trip in a plane would circumvent the feeding issue but smuggling it on board to arrive alive at the destination would be well nigh impossible.

 

[nanoboy]

well it would be possible, but the thing with platypus is that they have quite specific requirements for staying alive under long-distance transportation. It's not the same as putting a water rat in a box or a lungfish in a tub of water. When being shipped overseas to the Bronx they went in specially-designed "platypusaries", and that's quite apart for the sheer amount of food that would need to be on hand for the trip*. Obviously enough money and corrupt contacts could make it happen, but it does seem extremely unlikely.


*A trip in a plane would circumvent the feeding issue but smuggling it on board to arrive alive at the destination would be well nigh impossible.

In my lifetime, I have read of smuggling stories that beggar belief, so nothing is impossible. I am happy to hear that smuggling a platypus to arrive alive overseas is almost impossible though.

 

[Chlidonias]

In my lifetime, I have read of smuggling stories that beggar belief, so nothing is impossible. I am happy to hear that smuggling a platypus to arrive alive overseas is almost impossible though.

I did come up with another scenario just before though. Because plane trips are relatively short, a platypus could theoretically last well enough in a box and arrive at the other end alive. The main problem would be getting it on and off the plane unseen - a suitcase isn't going to cut it. But if you had a private plane (say, John Travolta's) and enough money to pay people off (say, as John Travolta has) then you could conceivably do it. So long as you could keep it alive before and after the plane trip.

And I guess that's the answer to David Brown's question. John Travolta.

 

[nanoboy]

I did come up with another scenario just before though. Because plane trips are relatively short, a platypus could theoretically last well enough in a box and arrive at the other end alive. The main problem would be getting it on and off the plane unseen - a suitcase isn't going to cut it. But if you had a private plane (say, John Travolta's) and enough money to pay people off (say, as John Travolta has) then you could conceivably do it. So long as you could keep it alive before and after the plane trip.

And I guess that's the answer to David Brown's question. John Travolta.

I read a rumour online of one possibly being offered for sale on Silk Road. I strongly suspect that you have no idea what Silk Road is, so that is your homework tonight.

 

[Monty]

Invade and make Australia the 51 st state.

 

[tschandler71]

Thats Iraq or Afghanistan

 

[IanRRobinson]

If we beat Australia in the Ashes again this summer can we keep it and get some platypuses for free? (Feels fairly sure this will annoy some Aussies.. I

 

[ThylacineAlive]

If we beat Australia in the Ashes again this summer can we keep it and get some platypuses for free? (Feels fairly sure this will annoy some Aussies.. I

I like how there's that random 'I' at the end like you were continuing and got cut off by an attacking Assie

~Thylo

 

[Buldeo]

Well, I can't see any zoo outside of San Diego -- maybe Florida and Texas -- acquiring one given Australia's climate. Sure, the Bronx Zoo had one, but it would end up living in a glass box. The Aussies would probably object.

That said, it's something of a tradition for American mayors to bet something their city is known for during major sporting events. For example, during the last Super Bowl, the mayors of San Francisco and Baltimore bet a crab boil; either Baltimore's mayor would be cooking n' cracking Dungeness crab in San Francisco, or San Francisco's mayor would be working with Blue Crab in Baltimore.

Taken to the national level, POTUS would put up a pair of bald eagles/American bison/mountain lion/whatever to a pair of platypus. The bet would be whether or not the USA Eagles could beat the Wallabies in a rugby match. The match would have to be site neutral, of course.

Maybe a pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers?

 

[Chlidonias]

Well, I can't see any zoo outside of San Diego -- maybe Florida and Texas -- acquiring one given Australia's climate. Sure, the Bronx Zoo had one, but it would end up living in a glass box. The Aussies would probably object.

most platypus in Australia zoos are housed in what amount to glass boxes (glass-fronted tanks of water with burrows through to the dens). If you put them in outside ponds you're not going to see much.

 

[Jabiru96]

I vote other:

Wait until New Zealand becomes a state of Australia (it is inevitable, surely?) and then buy Australia (including the state of New Zealand)

 

[Jarkari]

Well, I can't see any zoo outside of San Diego -- maybe Florida and Texas -- acquiring one given Australia's climate. Sure, the Bronx Zoo had one, but it would end up living in a glass box. The Aussies would probably object.

That said, it's something of a tradition for American mayors to bet something their city is known for during major sporting events. For example, during the last Super Bowl, the mayors of San Francisco and Baltimore bet a crab boil; either Baltimore's mayor would be cooking n' cracking Dungeness crab in San Francisco, or San Francisco's mayor would be working with Blue Crab in Baltimore.

Taken to the national level, POTUS would put up a pair of bald eagles/American bison/mountain lion/whatever to a pair of platypus. The bet would be whether or not the USA Eagles could beat the Wallabies in a rugby match. The match would have to be site neutral, of course.

Maybe a pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers?

Where I live there are plenty of platypus. And the temperature here ranges from minus 5 in winter to 45 in summer so most places could probably house platypus. Climate isn't really a huge factor.

 

[Macaw16]

Make Barack Obama do a crazy dance.