Penelope (platypus)

On April 25, 1947, three platypuses along with Burleigh zoologists David and Sigrid Fleay arrived at the Bronx Zoo. The platypuses were named Penelope, Cecil, and Betty. The zoo built a platypusery for them to live in which each animal had its own swimming pool and private burrows.[4] However, Betty died of a cold after arriving to the United States, so just Penelope and Cecil, who weighed two and four pounds respectively, lived in the enclosure.[2] Cecil and Penelope slept during the days except for their hour-long break to see visitors. At night, they came out to eat dinner of 25 to 35 live crayfish, 200 to 300 worms, one frog, several scrambled eggs, and mud.[2]

Zookeepers tried, over and over, to get the platypuses to mate. However, Penelope resisted Cecil's advances. "Penelope does not like Cecil, so their engagement is off, at least until next autumn", wrote the Townsville Bulletin on June 17, 1952.[5]

She made headlines when she began behaving like expectant mother, as she would have been the first platypus to lay a batch of eggs away from the species' homeland of Australia. Zookeepers became certain that Penelope was guarding young in the mound of dirt where she lived.[6][2] The first indication of Penelope's pregnancy was when she took eucalyptus leaves into her burrow, since those are the leaves that wild platypuses use to make breeding nests.[6]

Then, on July 9, Penelope retreated to her burrow and remained there for six days. She then ate a meal that Time magazine described as "enormous". At this point, zookeepers prepared themselves for the possibility of platypus eggs or young, hairless platypus infants who were in the nursing stage. Penelope began eating larger quantities of worms and larvae. Australian zoologists, including David Fleay, expected the young to be ready for the outside world in seventeen weeks.[2][6]

After sixteen weeks, zookeepers made plans to explore the mound to see the potential offspring. In the presence of fifty newspaper reporters and photographers, zookeepers dug through the mound for hours.[6] However, they did not find any young platypuses — only Penelope. Despite her maternal behavior and increased food consumption, she had not been rearing any young. Zoologists reported that they "had been duped" by Penelope, calling her a "faker" and accusing her of "posing as an expectant mother just to lead a life of luxury on double rations".[8]

Representatives of Penelope sent a cable to zookeepers in Australia that said "No babies this year. There's always next year. — Penelope."[8]

In July 1957, Penelope disappeared and the zoo assigned a fifteen-person team to search nearby waters including the Bronx River. Though male platypuses have a poisonous spur, females do not, making them more vulnerable in the wild.[3] On July 26, 1957, the Bronx Zoo stopped its weeks-long search through the ponds and streams on the premises and announced her "presumed lost and probably dead". The New York Times wrote that Penelope was "believed to have scrambled out of her burrow and escaped over a wire fence in resisting the advances of her mate, Cecil".

Cecil appeared affected by her disappearance. He spent considerable time scratching his head, an activity he had never done before.[3]

On August 19, 1957, a Time magazine article wrote that she was "one of those saucy females who like to keep a male on a string".[2]

Several weeks after Penelope deserted Cecil, Australian zoologist David Fleay expressed his disappointment with Penelope and agreed to send more platypuses to New York.[9]

In 1958, the Bronx Zoo received three more platypuses named Paul, Patty, and Pamela. All three died within their first year in North America. Cecil died two years after Penelope's disappearance. The United States did not get another platypus until 2019, when a pair arrived at the San Diego Zoo. They are the only platypuses on display outside of Australia.[10]

• Fauna of Australia
• Venomous mammal