One of my favorite cartoons is Phineas and Ferb. If you watch this cartoon you know that one of the characters is Perry the Platypus who is a secret agent.

One of the recurring gag lines is “Where’s Perry?” Agent P always disappears to battle the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

While I was at the Tarongo Zoo in Sydney last weekend I kept my eye out for a platypus.One of the first platypus images I saw was this statue with Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.
I also found another larger statue of a platypus. This statue was near the Platypus Pool exhibit. I diligently searched the exhibit but could not find any of them. This is normal though, especially on a hot day.

I did find a platypus at the indoor platypus exhibit, just as I had during my previous visit. However, the exhibit is dark and it was hard to get a picture. Especially as the platypus was usually moving very fast.

The picture above was the best I was able to get.

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is semi-aquatic and only lives in the eastern part of Australia and Tasmania. The platypus is very fast in the water and leaves a nice bubbly wake.

The platypus is a protected species, but is not endangered. Even thought they are not endangered, attempts to breed them in captivity have had limited success.

There are no platypus in captivity outside of Australia. If you want to see a platypus at a zoo or aquarium, you will need to go to Australia.

The platypus is a very interesting animal, I am glad that I was able to see one again.

I didn’t find Perry, but at least I saw a platypus.

Have you seen a platypus?

Steven