PLATYPUSES are thriving in the ACT's rivers and creeks, with several recent sightings in waterways and good conditions reported by Tidbinbilla rangers.
Populations of the diminutive monotremes can be found along the Queanbeyan, Molonglo and Murrumbidgee rivers, with sightings also reported in the east basin of Lake Burley Griffin.
GALLERY: More photos from Tidbinbilla
A Sunday Canberra Times photographer snatched a serendipitous shot of a foraging platypus in a section of the Molonglo River in Fyshwick last week.
Despite their extensive local range, the iconic Australian creatures are best spotted at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, in southern ACT.
Seven man-made lakes, fed by the Tidbinbilla River, offer a pristine habitat for the semi-aquatic mammal.
Platypus can be spotted at all times of the day in the reserve, despite having a reputation for nocturnal and twilight activity.
But living close to humans does present potentially fatal risks.
Southern ACT Catchment Group Waterwatch co-ordinator Martin Lind said fishing equipment and rubbish was the biggest threat to the prosperity of platypus in the region.
An Opera House yabby trap, banned in ACT waterways, has killed platypus in the region, while at least two platypuses were killed after becoming entangled in discarded fishing line in Lake Burley Griffin in 2010.
''They get it tangled around their breaks, necks or body and drown,'' Mr Lind said.
''The traps catch yabbys, a platypus staple, so this platypus tries to get in at them, gets stuck and drowns.''
Luckily, there are no such risks in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.
Platypus aren't the only natives to thrive in the sanctuary that boasts fourteen protected habitats.
The southern brush-tailed rock-wallaby program, potoroos, wallabies and the endangered northern corroboree frog have all found a haven in the lush bushland.
Reserve staff are busy reintroducing koalas to the mountain habitat, after the population was devastated during the 2003 bushfires.
The reserve offers some of the best wildlife spotting opportunities in the region, with an abundance of birdlife, reptiles and marsupials unfussed by human admirers.
More than 17,000 cars drove through the park gates over the summer period alone.
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