Scholarly Article Review

In “Reproductive behavior and food consumption associated with the captive breeding of platypus,” Norm Holland and Stephen M. Jackson investigate the reproductive behavior of a female platypus in captivity at the Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia. This is important research, considering how I mentioned in my most recent platypus blog just how difficult it is to raise platypus in captivity. Holland and Jackson comment that one of the main reasons for these difficulties is the platypus’ inability to adjust to change. Their findings contributed new and vital information about the relationship between the mother and her newborns, the gestation and lactation time periods, and the “food consumption in relation to breeding stage” (Holland & Jackson 2001).  Another interesting observation made during the study is the period of time the mother platypus, Koorina, spent inactive.  The researchers observed Koorina spending periods of up to six days completely inactive, during which she never left her burrow.  This information is somewhat puzzling because despite some consideration that the platypus engage in hibernation behavior, evidence suggest that they do not. These observations were further considered unusual because Koorina had never shown such periods of inactivity before. The study determined some key numerical data regarding the time periods of gestation, incubation, and lactation periods for platypus. However, some other vital information that the study provides to researchers and zookeepers is how to best accommodate the platypus to encourage reproductive behavior in captivity. Holland and Jackson suggest that to increase the likelihood for successful platypus breeding in captivity, male and female platypus should be brought into captivity at as young an age as possible and also be introduced to each other (the platypus they are meant to breed with) as quickly as possible so they can have a lengthy time period to familiarize themselves with one another.