The reintroduced platypus population in Royal National Park has now grown to 20 known individuals. Photo: Gilad Bino

The number of known platypuses in the waters of Royal National Park has increased to 20.

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Ten platypuses were released into the Hacking River when the bold program to reintroduce the species began in May 2023.

Three additional animals were released in May 2025, and another four this month.

The first platypuses being released in Royal National Park in 2023. Picture R Freeman, UNSW

Another three platypuses have been born since the program began.

Scientists from UNSW Sydney revealed the population growth following the latest release and a new round of surveys across the park in May 2026.

Each animal carries a small transmitter, so the team can follow their movements.

A six-months-old platypus captured and released in Royal National Park project in 2024. Picture supplied

"It is a privilege to be part of bringing platypuses back to a part of their former range where they had been missing for generations," said A/Professor Bino, who is one of a team of researchers involved in the project.

The latest group of platypuses released are males Absinthe and Duckie, and females Hydra and Dawn.

Two males from the founding 2023 cohort were re-encountered during the surveys.

They are Prometheus - confirmed last year as the father of Gili, the first juvenile born in the park - and Noris.

The team also captured a new sub-adult male hatched in the park during the most recent breeding season.

A/Professor Bino said this was further evidence the reintroduced population was reproducing and recruiting young animals into the wild.

"To capture males from the original release still in great condition, alongside a young male hatched here in the park, tells us this is no longer just a reintroduction - it is a recovering population," he said.

"Adding Absinthe, Duckie, Hydra and Dawn will strengthen both the numbers and the genetic diversity underpinning its long-term resilience."

Before the project started three years ago, platypuses were absent from the park for more than 50 years.

"Now, visitors are reporting platypus sightings along the Hacking River - something that simply hadn't been possible in living memory," A/Professor Bino said.

UNSW's Dr Tahneal Hawke, a co-lead on the project, said the latest surveys provided strong evidence that the population was establishing across generations.

"The results are exactly what we want to see at this stage of the project," she said.

"We now have multiple age classes in the park, evidence of breeding across consecutive seasons and animals interacting with the river system as a healthy platypus community should.

"That is the signature of a population that is starting to stand on its own."

Dr Hawke said the four new platypuses were sourced from healthy populations in NSW and underwent health checks, assessment and transmitter fitting before release.

"The reintroduction of platypuses to Royal National Park remains the first successful platypus translocation in NSW and one of the most ambitious wildlife recovery projects ever undertaken in the state," she said.

Dr Hawke said each new translocation was carefully planned to complement the current population within the park, "boosting numbers and broadening the gene pool without compromising the source populations the animals come from."

The scientists will continue to monitor survival, movements and breeding outcomes in the months and years to come.