FEATURE - School kids rally to protect platypus

When Neil Andison, Maleny-based platypus whisperer, gave an educational talk to the grade four students at Maleny Primary School, little did he realise he was mobilising a band of warrior writers.

by Judy Fredriksen

Curious to find out what these formidable youngsters were up to, I visited them at their school. The centre of discussion turned out to be the lethal Opera House yabby trap; the watery graveyard for many unsuspecting platypuses. And make no bones about it – the kids were fired up about it because it is banned in every other state except Queensland.

It all began when Lou Walsh and Trish Mackay (teachers of 4B) invited Neil to come and talk to their students because they had heard that the platypus was a vulnerable species in the Maleny area.

“We had a session with Neil down at our rainforest which is where we can see the platypus from the edge of our creek bank. He talked to us about the platypus and how you would spot them, and where their burrow was,” explains Lou.

“Then we came back and Neil talked to them about the Opera House yabby net. At the end of it we talked about whether we could write letters to the minister … we wanted to contribute our ideas and write a letter of protest, basically.”

As Neil – Platypus Community Officer for Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland – explains, ‘vulnerable’ means they’re not endangered yet, but could become so if more care isn’t taken to protect them, and the opera house yabby net is a major culprit.

“The Opera House has two entries – one at either end. They are a funnelled trap so the animals can get in through a funnel, into the body, but they can’t get out,” he explains.

A platypus can only hold its breath for up to four minutes under water, so when they are caught in this type of trap, they drown. Other air-breathing animals, like water rats, turtles, water dragons and birds also suffer the same fate. Compounding the danger, the ropes attached to the traps often break, releasing the traps which become lost, turning them into roving ghost traps.

As an estimate, around five percent of reported platypus deaths are from Opera House yabby traps, but Neil believes the true figure is much higher because many platypus deaths go unreported.

With the platypus being a unique Australian animal, the kids found it upsetting that there was a possibility it could become extinct.

“Most kids really want to see a platypus just once in their lifetime. We wanted to save the platypus so we still have them in the creek,” says student Holly.

Upon learning the disturbing facts, the school children wanted to take action and asked Neil for advice.

“He said that we could write a letter. So we decided to write a letter to the government to ban the Opera House yabby net,’ says student Blake.

That is a challenging task for even the average adult, yet these kids were determined to be heard.

Under some guidance from their teacher Lou around the basic structure of a persuasive letter, the kids set about writing to Leanne Linard – Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef; and Mark Furner – Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries.

In helping the kids with content for the letters, Lou says, “Neil gave us statistics, and he gave us the scientists so we knew that from expert opinion … you had to back yourself up, you couldn’t just say ‘it’s terrible’. Give them facts and opinions and that sort of information.”

All the letters (and I read each and every one of them!) requested that the Opera House yabby net be banned. Some even offered a solution – an alternative and more humane net called the ‘open neck pyramid neck’.

Here are a couple of excerpts to Minister Leanne Linard:

“Our school is lucky enough to be located right next to the Obi Obi Creek and we also have an amazing rainforest we walk through occasionally. Sometimes we are lucky enough to spot the platypus swimming freely in the fresh water like it should be ALL the time. But sadly there is one net called the Opera House Yabbi (sic) net which is catching yabbi’s (sic) but at the moment it is catching more than just yabbi’s (sic). It is catching platypus!’ – Bowie

“I need your help since you are such an importent (sic) person and you can make the big decisions to help save a species like the platypus … the platypus is a vulnerable spieces (sic) this State still has not banned the Opera House yabbie (sic) net … I ask you to stop this cruel, evil, horrific yabbie (sic) net and ban it and start using the open top yabbie (sic) trap.” – Blake

Rather than put all the hand-written and heart-felt letters into one envelope, each letter was posted separately, specifically requesting ‘please reply’.

“It was a great experience and we’re looking forward to getting a response … if they do respond,” says Bowie, with Holly adding, “It was a fun project”.

The students ask that our readers help them by also writing letters to the ministers requesting the ban of the opera house net. For more details, contact Lou Walsh:

lwals25@eq.edu.au or sign the e-petition on the Wildlife Queensland website: https://wildlife.org.au

*Since this story was written, every student who sent a letter has received a reply from Mark Furner MP. He is asking the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to investigate the proposed ban and garner community feedback, considering the students’ letters as part of the investigation.