The Wimmera's environmental managers hope one of Australia's most unusual animals will be abundant in the region's waterways in years to come, following its most recent find.
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Wimmera Catchment Management Authority staff discovered a mature male platypus near a weir on the MacKenzie River at Zumsteins on Monday.
Chief executive David Brennan said it was an exciting find.
"The platypus was located further north than where we've previously caught them - closer to Horsham than the Grampians," he said.
"It's a pretty good indicator that the platypus population has been increasing its distribution or range over the last few years, which is very exciting."
The CMA has monitored platypus population numbers for the past decade as part of its surveying to determine the health of the Wimmera's waterways.
"We've been able to gather quite a bit of data about the population of the platypus as well," Mr Brennan said.
Related: Platypus population rebounding
Mr Brennan said the platypus looked like it was more than three years old and was very healthy. The finding is the CMA's second in the past 12 months.
"They're different individuals, so it's a sign they are breeding, and while it's a very small population it shows some level of resilience in the species," he said.
"We've found farmers and the general community in the Wartook-Laharum area fantastic at reporting platypus sightings and letting us know the quality and quantity of water that's required. So we'd just encourage them to continue their discussions with the organisation.
"I guess our long-term goal is to see the platypus distributed across the Wimmera River catchment, which they used to be as recently as 20 or 30 years ago."
Mr Brennan said the authority had yet to name the platypus.
Platypuses can live for up to 20 years in the wild and in captivity, with most reaching sexual maturity at two years old.
In Victoria, platypuses cannot be captured or killed, except for scientific research.
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