In the wild, the platypus live up to 16 years, and the record for life expectancy among platypus breeders in captivity is 17 years. Taking care of duckbills and keeping them in captivity is extremely difficult, so very few zoos have in their collection platypuses and those only in Australia. In recent times, cases of death of platypuses have become frequent when they fall into the traps set by anglers to catch crayfish and fish.
Platypus live in lakes, streams and rivers of Australia, all over the island from Tasmania to the north of Queensland. They were also brought to the island of Kangaroo in South Australia. Despite their considerable prevalence, it is believed that this is one of the most difficult animals, because they live in water and spend most of the time or under water in search of food or in their holes under the ground.
In addition, platypus – nochnoe animal, which means that the peak of their activity falls at a dark time of day. Therefore, most chances to see the platypus in natural conditions are either early in the morning or before nightfall. In addition, they are extremely sensitive to extraneous sounds, and at the slightest threat dive under the water.
