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It was with great excitement that we welcomed "Barak" the platypus into our Lone Pine family back in March this year. Barak (pronounced "barrack" (as in "army barrack" not like the US president!)) was born 11 years ago in Victoria and he made headlines by being only the 2nd platypus ever to be born in captivity. The 1st "Corrie" was born way back in 1943 and no one was able to repeat this success until Barak came along. Since his birth, Barak has made headlines quite a few times as he became a father on more than one occasion and then a camera crew from "The Zoo" followed his every move as he flew up to join us here at Lone Pine.
Barak arrived in style. He was given permission to travel with his keeper in the passenger section of the plane but his nest box wouldn't fit in the economy seats, so he was upgraded to business class. When the plane touched down, he received a rousing welcome to Brisbane from the plane's crew and passengers.
Once he had arrived at Lone Pine, he was given a chance to explore his new home. After some initial nervousness, Barak settled in really well and seems to be very comfortable with his new surroundings. After a 2 week settling in period, Barak's home was officially opened to the public on March 30th and he has proved to be a very popular addition. The only drawback the staff can see is that we can literally forget the time as we watch him swimming, grooming, catching yabbies and worms and generally having a good time. We get so caught up in his antics that it can put us behind in our work!
As you may have guessed, Barak is a boy and that means that he has a venomous spur on the inside of both hind legs. These are used during disputes with other male platypus and also in self defense. Because of this, we have to handle Barak with care as the pain inflicted from these spurs is excruciating. Even with this rather spikey component, Barak is very hard not to love. He is quite the sweetie and he has all his keepers wrapped around his little finger. He loves his nap times and we often have a very sleepy face looking up at us from inside his nest box when we let him know it's time to get up.
Check out the attached photos to get a glimpse into Barak's life (I love the picture of him sleeping upside down with his blanky - very typical of him!!) and even better - come and see him in person next time you visit Lone Pine!
:zzz: :zzz:
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Last Edited On: 2010-04-17 22:56:16 By Karen for the Reason |
Karen
Senior Wildlife Officer in charge of koalas |
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