Get Involved - Parliament

Matilda the Platypus

Published on: September 2023

Record: HANSARD-1323879322-134797

Matilda the Platypus

Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore)

—While Matilda's fever swept Australia, there was a very special new member of the Taronga Zoo family who was admitted to their Wildlife Hospital earlier this year. Named in honour of our incredible women's soccer team the Matildas, this little Platypus was just four months old when she was found under a bush on the NSW Central Coast, weak, severely malnourished, and covered in ticks. However thanks to the incredible work that Taronga Zoo Wildlife Hospital do, little Matilda has thrived under attentive, around the clock care from Taronga's expert Platypus team who hand fed her six times a day for two months. While Matilda still has some growing to do she is now eating and foraging on her own and will soon be on display for all to see in at nguwing Nura Nocturnal Country in the brand new immersive Nura Diya attraction. While you're there visiting Tilly, you will also be able to get a close up look at an array of nocturnal species including Bilbies and Yellow-bellied Gliders. I thank the extraordinary efforts of the Taronga Zoo Wildlife Hospital and all involved in helping Matilda on her road to recovery.