Platypus ‘whisperer’ rallies city to wildlife protection
A health crisis can turn your life around and make you contemplate your future. This man found his special place and an unlikely friend.
Peter Walsh is a Hobart local who enjoys the outdoor life and it’s there he found new meaning after being diagnosed with a life-altering brain injury.
He loves the waterways, especially the picturesque Hobart Rivulet, which is where he formed a surprising bond with a platypus that swam over to Peter whenever he visited.
The female platypus was eventually named Zoom by Pete’s partner Vonna Keller. Why? Because she zoomed through the water towards Pete with a waggle as soon as he arrived in her vicinity.
Early on, Pete helped Zoom untangle from plastic that had been dumped in the water. That sealed the bond.
The convergence of his medical condition and his encounters with this cheeky female platypus inspired Pete to give back and help preserve the marsupials.
Now, Pete is known as the platypus whisperer – and is the face of a call to action to protect Hobart's platypuses and the environment and waterways where they live.
His commitment was bolstered when bulldozers and a flash flood jeopardised the rivulet, causing Zoom’s sudden disappearance. Pete felt compelled to act. He initiated a grassroots conservation effort, rallying the community to rescue his platypus friends.
His story is told in an ABC documentary, The Platypus Guardian, which can be viewed on ABC iView. It contains never-before-seen platypus footage, revealing how they are surviving at the doorstep of a major city and Pete’s efforts to rally the community to save them.
Pete’s mission and commitment has inspired Hobart Mayor Anna Reynolds to urge residents to be more aware of the need to preserve the city’s wildlife, in particular the platypuses. She wants Hobartians to volunteer to protect native habitat by becoming “Platypus Guardians”.
Councillor Reynolds’ call to action is not just for the people of Hobart but to all Australians.
“This extraordinary film about platypus whisperer Pete Walsh should galvanise the entire community into taking greater action to protect Hobart’s platypuses and the rivulets they call home,” she said.
"Every weekend our Bushcare volunteers are calling out for more hands on deck to help plant and protect native habitat along the Hobart Rivulet and in our bushland reserves.
"We need more eyes on the ground alerting us to contaminants entering our rivulets so that City of Hobart waterways staff and other authorities can take action.
"We need more people picking up rubbish before it enters our waterways and threatens our platypuses. It's as simple as seize it, snip it, bin it.”
The city recently released its first-ever report into the ecological health of Hobart’s four major rivulets.
It revealed that while the rivulets are in excellent condition in their naturally forested headwaters, water health drops off as they hit the urban fringe.
The report has led to a project to design a better litter trap to prevent rubbish ending up in the Hobart Rivulet.
It also developing a tree canopy strategy to provide cover for platypuses from predators and to regulate water temperature.
“Our staff are working more closely with industry to help educate them about how their activities can impact on waterway health and tracking pollutants from a variety of sources, including concrete wash, sewer leaks, and fertiliser run-off,” Ms Reynolds said.
The documentary is available on ABC iView here.
Related reading: Hobart City, The Rivulet Platypus, TV Blackbox
Photograph: courtesy ABC.
