During platypus month, volunteers are recruited to help monitor and count the local population. Platypus are unique. We are, it's amazing how much we actually don't know about them. And there's no one else doing any dedicated monitoring the ACT region for platypus. The elusive animal is classified as near threatened. The program monitors not only these resilient little creatures, but the waterways they inhabit. Some of the biggest threats alterations to flow in rivers is a big one. Also, man-made problems like litter, getting caught up in fishing lines is a really big thing. Illegal yabby traps. Seeing a platypus in the wild is rare. And recent heavy rainfall has made spotting them more difficult. But these eagle-eyed volunteers are always on the lookout. Water-remarkable creature and the fact that it's a monotream and lives in a burrow, but has the milk for the young. Oh, they're just such interesting creatures. Late winter is the ideal time to spot a platypus in the wild. And that's because they're more active during the day and in the lead up to breeding season. They catch the water bugs and they come up to the surface to eat the water bugs. They chew them on the surface for about 30 seconds and they die again. And every minute or so you'll see them pop up. So yeah, that's if you see one and you think that might be a platypus, just wait for about a minute and they should pop up again. Hundreds of people have volunteered for the program and it's not hard to see why. Isaac Roozy, ABC News, Canberra.