Adopt a Platypus

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANIMAL LOVERS 🎁

Supercharge your impact by selecting an ongoing adoption from as little as $15 per month. You’ll receive regular email updates so you can see the difference your generous support is making.

Monthly donations make it easier to plan for the long-term, helping to keep administration costs down and providing a huge boost to vital conservation work. You’ll always be in control of your giving and can easily contact us should your circumstances change.

Protect our platypus today

Many Australian animals are unusual in their own way. But the platypus is the most unique of them all. They’re mammals that lay eggs and have a bill and flippers, which is an amazing evolutionary feat. But in the last 150 to 200 years, they’ve come under threat.

The changing climate and associated catastrophic bushfires and droughts, new dams, the over-extraction of water from rivers, landclearing, attacks by foxes, dogs, and cats, pollution and urban sprawl present serious threats to platypus.

The platypus is facing a silent extinction. Please take action now to protect them and their habitat.

Symbolically adopting a platypus today can help research and monitor their populations across eastern states and support the implementation and monitoring of a unique rewilding program that reintroduced platypuses back into areas where they once thrived.

Your generosity will be a symbol of your support for conservation and animal advocacy, ensuring our amazing platypus remain in our local ecosystems forever.

Rob Brewster, Fran Roncolato, and Patrick Giumelli from WWF-Australia release a platypus back into the Royal National Park © R Freeman, UNSW

Rewilding the platypus to their natural habitat

Supporting the unique rewilding program that reintroduced platypuses to Australia's oldest national park, the Royal National Park, after they had been locally extinct for 50 years.

Burnie, Tasmania, Australia: March 2019: Platypus swimming in the river

Platypus swimming in the river © WWF-Australia / Lukas - stock.adobe.com

Ensuring platypus survival in the wild

By providing sensor cameras to monitor threats and acoustic transmitters to monitor reintroduced platypus, giving the teams a better understanding of potential threats to their survival and how to manage these – all to give the new generation of platypuses in the Royal National Park the best chance of survival.

A duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) swims in a river in northeast Tasmania

A platypus in river habitat Tasmania. © Kevin - stock.adobe.com

Keep them as a critical part of healthy river ecosystems

Platypuses are river sentinels, acting as an indicator of overall river health. Restoring platypuses to rivers where they once thrived helps identify areas we can support to create healthier river ecosystems

Rob holding a platypus he and Tahneal found during a platypus survey

Rob Brewster holding a platypus found during a platypus survey © WWF-Australia / Rob Brewster

Restoring their numbers and safeguarding their future

Contribute to valuable research that informs future conservation strategies and can help restore platypus populations in other areas where they have become locally extinct.

We can’t protect the platypus without you

When you adopt a platypus, you’ll be joining them on their journey to a safer future. Your special adoption gift pack includes an optional cuddly platypus plush toy, factbook, adoption certificate, Living Planet magazine and WWF sticker. If you sign-up to an ongoing adoption, you’ll also receive updates on how your generous donations are helping to conserve and protect the platypus and other Aussie wildlife.

Adopt a Platypus pack © WWF-Australia

Give a unique and memorable gift

A platypus adoption is the perfect gift for any animal lover as well as a great way to inspire friends, family and loved ones to care for nature as much as you do.

We can send this gift pack to you or directly to your gift recipient. For last-minute gifts, you can print a personalised adoption certificate or email it directly to your gift recipient.

Is my donation tax-deductible?

Yes – donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible.

Will I receive a tax receipt for my donation?

For ongoing monthly donations, we’ll send you a tax receipt at the end of financial year for all the monthly donations received. For single donations, we send a receipt shortly after each donation has been processed.

When will my adoption pack arrive?

You should expect to receive your pack in 10 – 15 business days, however please note there may be a slight delay in delivery due to external factors. If you donated by direct debit please allow up to five extra working days for your payment to clear. We’ll keep you posted via email as soon as the parcel is on its way. And if you want to beat the post, you can instantly download a copy of your adoption certificate via a link in the confirmation email.

Do you deliver outside Australia?

No, please note that we are not able to send adoption packs to addresses outside Australia.

What date will my donations come out of my account?

If you've opted to give via a credit or debit card, your first donation will be processed instantly. If you've chosen to pay via your bank account, the direct debit needs to be approved by your bank. This process can take up to a week.

For regular gifts, your ongoing donations will be processed on the 24th of each month. If the 24th falls on a weekend or public holiday, the transaction will be processed the following day.

If you've got any questions or concerns, please give us a call on 1800 032 551 or send an email to enquiries@wwf.org.au. We're available Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (AEST), excl. public holidays.

What is the symbolic adoption program?

WWF‑Australia’s symbolic adoption lets you support a species without adopting a live animal. When you choose a wombat, koala, platypus, eastern quoll or another species, your donation funds vital conservation work, including restoring and protecting habitats, reintroducing species, and supporting research and advocacy. The animal in your adoption pack represents its entire species, so your gift benefits whole populations and ecosystems. It’s a meaningful way to make a lasting difference, whether for yourself or as a gift.

How will my donation be used?

Our planet’s wildlife is rapidly disappearing and funds from adoptions help protect some of our most important species. Monies raised from adoptions are unrestricted, helping support our wider work protecting wildlife and nature. As our work varies across species and projects and in response to our ever-changing environment, this ensures we have the flexibility to respond in the most impactful way.

Is my donation to WWF-Australia secure?

Absolutely. The WWF-Australia website is fully secure. All pages are encrypted using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), which you can identify by the page address beginning with “https”.

All donations are processed securely by Stripe, a PCI DSS Level 1 certified payment processor—the highest level of certification in the payments industry.

Stripe uses advanced security measures—including encryption, tokenisation, and real-time fraud detection—to protect your credit card information during and after the transaction. WWF-Australia also works with partners who are required to maintain PCI DSS compliance and implement robust security controls.

Your trust is important to us, and we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of data protection.

What methods of payment are accepted?

We accept MasterCard, Visa and American Express. For single donations, we also accept PayPal.

How do I update my details?

You can easily update it on our secure web page here or you can email our Supporter Relations team: hello@wwf.org.au or phone 1800 032 551.

Can I choose whether I receive a toy or not?

Yes. It’s completely up to you whether you choose to receive a plush toy as part of your adoption. When choosing your pack, select “Just the pack” if you don’t wish to be sent a plush toy.

Is a plush toy guaranteed?

Contents of the welcome pack are subject to availability. If there is a delay or your chosen plush is no longer available, we will do our best to notify you as soon as possible and offer an alternative. To ensure delivery, please check if the address you have provided is correct before proceeding to payment.