Editing Platypus (section)

==== Habitat destruction ====
The platypus is not considered to be in immediate danger of extinction, because conservation measures have been successful, but it could be adversely affected by habitat disruption caused by [[dam]]s, [[irrigation]], [[pollution]], netting, and trapping.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Stannard | first1=H.J. | last2=Wolfenden | first2=J. | last3=Old | first3=J.M. | year=2010 | title=Evaluating the capacity of constructed wetlands to sustain a captive population of Platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus'') | journal=Australasian Journal of Environmental Management | volume=17 | issue=1 | pages=27–34 | doi=10.1080/14486563.2010.9725246 | bibcode=2010AuJEM..17...27S }}</ref> Reduction of watercourse flows and water levels through excessive droughts and extraction of water for industrial, agricultural, and domestic supplies are also considered a threat. The [[IUCN]] lists the platypus on its [[Red List]] as "[[Near Threatened]]"<ref name="iucn" /> as assessed in 2016, when it was estimated that numbers had reduced by about 30 percent on average since European settlement. The animal is listed as endangered in South Australia, but it is not covered at all under the federal ''[[EPBC Act]]''.<ref name=natgeog>{{cite web | title=The silent decline of the platypus, Australia's beloved oddity | website=National Geographic | first=Christie | last=Wilcox | date=29 August 2019 | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/08/common-platypus-disappearing-australia/ | access-date=12 October 2020 | archive-date=12 October 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012141601/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/08/common-platypus-disappearing-australia/ | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna | website=Species Profile and Threats Database | publisher=Australian Government. [[Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment]] | url=https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl | access-date=12 October 2020 | archive-date=5 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105231657/http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl | url-status=live }}</ref>

Researchers have worried for years that declines have been greater than assumed.<ref name=natgeog/> In January 2020, researchers from the [[University of New South Wales]] presented evidence that the platypus is at risk of [[extinction]], due to a combination of extraction of [[water resource]]s, [[land clearing]], [[climate change]] and severe [[drought]].<ref name="EA-20200121">{{cite web |author=University of New South Wales |title=Platypus on brink of extinction |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uons-pob011920.php |date=21 January 2020 |work=[[EurekAlert!]] |access-date=22 January 2020 |author-link=University of New South Wales |archive-date=13 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513103618/https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uons-pob011920.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=brink2020>{{cite press release |title=Platypus on brink of extinction |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200121112922.htm |work=ScienceDaily |publisher=University of New South Wales |date=21 January 2020 }}</ref> The study predicted that, considering current threats, the animals' abundance would decline by 47–66% and [[metapopulation]] occupancy by 22–32% over 50 years, causing "extinction of local populations across about 40% of the range". Under projections of climate change projections to 2070, reduced habitat due to drought would lead to 51–73% reduced abundance and 36–56% reduced metapopulation occupancy within 50 years respectively. These predictions suggested that the species would fall under the "Vulnerable" classification. The authors stressed the need for national conservation efforts, which might include conducting more surveys, tracking trends, reduction of threats and improvement of river management to ensure healthy platypus habitat.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bino |first1=Gilad |last2=Kingsford |first2=Richard T. |last3=Wintle |first3=Brendan A. |title=A stitch in time – Synergistic impacts to platypus metapopulation extinction risk |journal=Biological Conservation |date=February 2020 |volume=242 |pages=108399 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108399 |bibcode=2020BCons.24208399B }}</ref> Co-author Gilad Bino is concerned that the estimates of the 2016 baseline numbers could be wrong, and numbers may have been reduced by as much as half already.<ref name=natgeog/>

A November 2020 report by scientists from the [[University of New South Wales]], funded by a research grant from the [[Australian Conservation Foundation]] in collaboration with the [[World Wildlife Fund|World Wildlife Fund Australia]] and the [[Humane Society International Australia]] revealed that that platypus habitat in Australia had shrunk by 22 per cent in the previous 30 years, and recommended that the platypus should be listed as a threatened species under the ''EPBC Act''.<ref name=2020report/><ref>{{cite web | last=Cox | first=Lisa | title=Australia's platypus habitat has shrunk 22% in 30 years, report says | website=the Guardian | date=23 November 2020 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/23/australias-platypus-habitat-has-shrunk-22-in-30-years-report-says | access-date=28 November 2020 | archive-date=28 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128065816/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/23/australias-platypus-habitat-has-shrunk-22-in-30-years-report-says | url-status=live }}</ref> Declines in population had been greatest in NSW, in particular in the [[Murray–Darling basin]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Platypus should be listed as a threatened species: new report | website=UNSW Newsroom | publisher=[[University of New South Wales]] | date=23 November 2020 | url=https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/platypus-should-be-listed-threatened-species-new-report | access-date=28 November 2020 | archive-date=26 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126093055/https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/platypus-should-be-listed-threatened-species-new-report | url-status=live | author1=z3525972 }}</ref><ref name=2020report/>