Rescued Platypus Released Back Into New South Wales Bush

A platypus was returned to the wild on March 27, after he was found injured in a water treatment facility in Sydney’s Blue Mountains earlier that month, according to Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

Footage provided by the country’s Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) and NPWS shows the mammal hesitantly leaving its enclosure, before diving into a creek and frolicking in the water.

According to a media release issued by the NPWS, the “Platypus was rescued by WIRES volunteers from a Sydney Water facility earlier in March, and received veterinary assistance at Taronga Wildlife Hospital.”

The NPWS also said the creature is “expected to thrive now that floodwaters have receded.” Credit: Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service via Storyful