#platypus — Public Fediverse posts

Death trap: Killing Australian wildlife with everyday items

"Flying foxes make up two-thirds of all entanglement cases in NSW"

"But it’s not just flying foxes – entanglements affect hundreds of different species, mostly mammals and birds, including kangaroos, platypus, raptors and gliders....Hungry animals, especially flying foxes, birds and possums, are attracted to flowers and fruits, and get easily caught in “large-aperture” nets, where the mesh size is greater than 5mm. The rule of thumb is that if you can poke a finger through it, it’s not safe for wildlife."

"Aquatic debris makes up about 10% of entanglement cases, according to NSW wildlife rescue data. Fishing line is probably the most difficult type of litter for platypus to cope with, and causes horrendous injuries – it basically just cuts through the skin.” >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jul/11/everyday-items-catching-killing-native-animals-how-to-help-tangled-wildlife
#biodiversity #wildlife #bats #birds #platypus #traps #entanglement #fencing #netting #FishingGear #Plastic #garbage #BarbedWire #fences #Hairties #fruit #food #gardens
Image: Grey-headed flying foxes mosaic, Bellingen

Remember the Urunga wetlands waste tailings rich in antimony, arsenic, lead and cyanide?

"For five years in the 1960s and 1970s, antimony and other heavy metals leached from an ore processing plant into the melaleuca wetlands. The wetlands used to open up into a moonscape of light grey sand with not a single bit of vegetation."
>>
https://www.crownland.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-07/Urunga-Wetlands-fact-sheet.pdf
https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-5357%2120190227T035916.488%20GMT

Now they want to go for Wild Cattle Creek 'high-grade and high-tonnage' antimony-gold mining >>
https://www.listcorp.com/asx/tmg/trigg-minerals-limited/news/acquisition-of-globally-significant-antimony-project-3091939.html

A Clarence Catchment Alliance community meeting

is being hosted by the Bellingen Environment Centre,
with Blicks River Guardians and Lock the Gate Nambucca,
from 2pm on Friday May 31 at 16 Cudgery St, Dorrigo.
>>
https://clarencevalleynews.com.au/clarence-catchment-alliance-community-meeting/
#NSW #Dorrigo #Urunga #remediation #CoffsHarbour #mining #antimony #gold #extractivism #harm #WildCattleCreek #WCC #water #contamination #wetlands #rivers #waterways #freshwater #MarineWater #platypus #biodiversity #BellingenShire

Randomly selected image:
EMC_Phase1:Clipart/IFF/Animals/Foreign/-Other/Platypus.iff #TerrestrialAnimal #Snout #Sketch #Platypus #Monotreme #LineArt

El ornitorrinco (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) tiene un nombre genérico más o menos fácil de recordar, al menos en español. En cambio, en inglés, su nombre coincide con un género de escarabajos Platypus, que tenía el nombre antes por tan solo 6-7 años de diferencia. #taxonomia #taxonomy #escarabajos #beetles #coleoptera #platypus

Pets, pesticides and polluted rivers

"Fipronil and imidacloprid are widely used in flea treatments, which are typically applied to the back of the pet’s neck once a month.These two chemicals are extremely potent neurotoxic insecticides and it is deeply concerning that they are routinely found on the hands of dog owners through ongoing contact with their pet. Pet owners will also be upset to learn that they are accidentally polluting our rivers by using these products.”

"The insecticides used in the flea products flow down household drains when pet owners wash their hands after applying the treatment. Wastewater from sewage treatment works is a leading source of fipronil and imidacloprid pollution in rivers, with concentrations exceeding safe limits for wildlife."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/01/vets-pesticide-flea-treatments-river-pollution-pet-owners-toxic-insecticides-hands
#pesticide #pets #dogs #cats #wildlife #rivers #pollution #OneHealth #neonicotinoids #neurotoxins #fipronil #Bellinger #platypus #BellingerRiverSnappingTurtle