Platypuses are found exclusively in Australia, inhabiting freshwater systems such as rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds. Their range extends broadly across eastern and southeastern Australia, including:
- Eastern Queensland
- New South Wales
- Victoria (eastern, central, and southwestern parts)
- Tasmania and the Australian Alps
- Coastal rainforests up to the base of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland
- Kangaroo Island (where they were introduced in the 1920s)
They live in diverse habitats, from tropical rainforest lowlands and plateaus to cold high-altitude areas, preferring water bodies with earth banks and native vegetation that provide cover and shading
. The platypus is dependent on reliable freshwater environments with features such as cobbles, gravel substrates, and pool-riffle sequences that support their invertebrate prey. Their distribution is continuous in some river systems but patchy in others, with some populations declining or extinct in certain areas due to habitat degradation, water quality decline, and climate change impacts
. In summary, platypuses are native and endemic to Australia, found mainly in freshwater habitats along the east and southeast coasts and Tasmania, with introduced populations on Kangaroo Island.
