Platypus are notoriously difficult to survey. Mark-recapture trapping can yield a range of valuable data but is time-consuming and costly with risks posed to the animals. Thanks to work over the last 10+ years by the Australian Platypus Conservancy, the visual Group Survey method, aimed at gauging platypus densities in a given stretch of river, has been developed. Such methods enable safe, inexpensive surveys to be conducted at a greater temporal and spatial scale and are a fit for purpose model for engaging community volunteers.
While community engagement is an important factor in this survey model, it is not the primary focus of the exercise. Such participatory models require appropriate experimental design, like any other research project, and should be considered as part of a suite of approaches to address conservation research and monitoring.
For the past eight years, Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch has run Platypus Month in August and in 2022 recruited nearly 300 volunteers to assist in 34 Group Surveys. We discuss how we have further refined this method to improve data quality and interpretation and what the data can tell us about how platypus are faring in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment.