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Platypuses are native to Australia’s freshwater rivers and are part of a rare group of mammals - the monotremes - that lay eggs. Some claim that the name of a baby platypus is a puggle, which is colloquially also the name for a crossbreed dog with a Beagle and a Pug parent, and the name for a baby echidna. With stubby tails like a beaver and the bill of a duck, platypuses were famously seen as a hoax by British scientists encountering their first specimen in the late 18th century. “If you are lucky enough to see a platypus in the wild, keep your distance.” “Taking a platypus from the wild is not only illegal, but it can be dangerous for both the displaced animal and the person involved if the platypus is male as they have venomous spurs,“ police said. Under Queensland’s conservation laws, it is illegal to take “one or more” platypus from the wild, with a maximum fine of Aus$430,000 (US$288,000). The man and his female companion then wrapped it in a towel, “patting it and showing it to fellow commuters”, police said. “Police were advised the animal was released into the Caboolture River and has not yet been located by authorities,“ police said.ĬCTV photos from Tuesday showed a man in flip-flops strolling along a train platform north of Brisbane while cradling the platypus - about the size of a kitten - under his arm. Railway officers nabbed the man, and they have spoken to the woman who was with him, police said.

“It will be further alleged the pair were observed showing the animal to members of the public at the shopping centre,“ Queensland police said in a statement. The man, who faces court Saturday over alleged animal protection offences, is accused of removing the elusive critter from a waterway in northern Queensland and taking it on a train trip to a shopping centre. Police launched a public appeal after the 26-year-old man, accompanied by a woman, was spotted on a suburban train with a wild platypus swaddled in a towel. They are native to Australia and central and south New Guinea.SYDNEY: Forget the Hollywood thriller “Snakes on a Plane”, an Australian man is in trouble for taking a platypus on a train. Currently, there are only 29 short-beaked echidnas in 10 accredited North American zoos, including Brookfield Zoo. Other echidnas, including Waddles, Pokey, Kapi, Rex and the oldest animal at Brookfield Zoo, 53-year-old Adelaide, currently can be seen in their habitats.Įchidnas are one of only two mammal species, along with the duck-billed platypus, that is in the order Monotremata, or mammals that lay eggs. Guest then will be able to view it in the zoo's Australia House.

The puggle is anticipated to venture from the nestbox sometime in August. Once its spines begin to harden, the mother removes the offspring from the pouch and builds a burrow for it to continue to develop, and nurses it until around 7 months old. The puggle clings to hairs inside its mother's pouch for a few months. Animal care staff has been closely monitoring the puggle to ensure its development and weighing it frequently to make certain it is nursing from its mother.Ī female echidna incubates a single soft leathery egg in her pouch for a short period of about 10 days.

It will remain in a nestbox for a few more months to receive nourishment from its 47-year-old mother, Waddles. The unnamed and unsexed puggle – a baby short-beaked echidna – hatched between March 2 and 5, according to the zoo. CHICAGO (CBS) – Brookfield Zoo is celebrating its first hatching of a new baby puggle.