FEARS that platypus populations were completely wiped out by the 2022 floods may have been premature, with new research showing numbers in the region are “holding on”.

A breakthrough environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring program, first used in Ipswich, is being expanded across more than 200 sites throughout South East Queensland under the $1.2 million Resilient Rivers SEQ initiative, jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments and the Council of Mayors.

Ipswich will remain a crucial part of the program, with additional monitoring sites now in Brisbane, Logan, and Moreton Bay as scientists ramp up efforts to protect the elusive national icon.

The Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (Wildlife Queensland) last year warned the platypus was “under serious threat” and urged the

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