The Tasmanian Platypus Field Trip for final year vet students aims to inspire students to consider how they might use their veterinary skills in the field of wildlife conservation.

In particular, for students aiming to work in general practice, it demonstrates that their understanding of health, animal handling and diagnostic skills, geographical location and connections within their community will make them ideally placed to undertake wildlife health and conservation research in the area where they live and work.  At the same time, the field trip offers the students a unique opportunity to work close-up with platypuses, to gain a deep understanding of the health and conservation threats these iconic monotremes face, and to contribute to our conservation based research.

From late nights and cold weather, to venomous spurs and top tips for platypus anaesthesia, during three fieldwork sessions in rural north-west Tasmania over the course of a week, the vet students become familiar with the challenges associated with wildlife field studies.  They are kitted out in chest high waders to set platypus nets in creeks in the afternoon, and then help check the nets for platypuses every hour until midnight.  Each captured platypus is given a thorough health check under anaesthesia in a field examination trailer fitted out like a vet clinic: with a gaseous anaesthetic machine, doppler ultrasound to listen to the pulse, an adjustable heat pad and constant temperature monitoring.  The students assist with all aspects of this process, as well as recording of measurements and health observations.  Following the health check, when the platypus has woken from its anaesthetic, the students are able to release it safely back into the wild where it came from.

As well as learning wildlife health and field skills, students undertaking this field trip are directly supporting platypus conservation, with this longitudinal research providing important findings about platypus ecology, demographics, and health at both individual and population levels.