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<img alt=\"Abandoned pets are a rising problem. A Denmark Zoo has the solution: their animals are eaten\" width=\"375\" height=\"142\" src=\"https:\/\/i.blogs.es\/9ebefb\/ps---plantilla-portadas-xtk\/375_142.png\"\/><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe reason behind sending an ornithorhinco<\/strong>. During World War II, Australia felt \u00a0abandoned\u00a0 by Great Britain as Japan advanced in the Pacific. The Australian Foreign Minister \u00a0Herbert Evatt\u00a0 knew of Churchill’s penchant for exotic animals and believed that an ornithorhinco, often dismissed as a \u00a0taxidermy hoax\u00a0, could sway military support in Canberra’s favor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The trip that should never have happened<\/strong>. Winston was captured near \u00a0Melbourne\u00a0 and placed in a specially designed container filled with hay, Australian stream water, and \u00a050,000 worms\u00a0 for the \u00a045-day voyage\u00a0. David Fleay, the naturalist responsible for the expedition, opposed the journey from the start, noting that no ornithorhinco had ever survived a trip of such length, especially considering that exports of the species were prohibited.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The official cause of death<\/strong>. Upon discovering Winston dead in his container, Churchill expressed his “pain” to the Australian Prime Minister. To avoid any diplomatic incidents, the circumstances surrounding Winston’s death were kept under wraps for years. When the truth finally emerged, it was asserted that Winston died from the stress of the alleged attacks by German submarines\u2014a narrative that Fleay himself supported at the time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n <img alt=\"Walking cats with belt is in fashion. We have asked an expert in feline behavior and is clear about what he thinks\" width=\"375\" height=\"142\" src=\"https:\/\/i.blogs.es\/602e05\/pasear-gatos\/375_142.jpeg\"\/><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe logbook clues<\/strong>. \u00a0Harrison Croft\u00a0, a doctoral student at \u00a0Monash University\u00a0, accessed archives in Canberra and London that included testimonies from the platypus’s caretaker. “They conducted a sort of \u00a0autopsy\u00a0, and he was very clear: there was no \u00a0explosion\u00a0, and everything was calm on board,” Croft explained. An Australian museum team later digitized Fleay’s collection, where they uncovered the daily temperature records that ultimately revealed the real cause of death.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\n ![\"Binnacle\"](\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/During-World-War-II-Australia-sent-a-platypus-to-Churchill.jpeg\"\/)
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<span>Ship's logbook. Image: Australia Museum<\/span><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nDelicate diplomacy with ornithorhinco<\/strong>. In an effort to amend the situation, Australia attempted again in \u00a01947\u00a0 by sending three platypuses to the \u00a0Bronx Zoo\u00a0 in New York. Sadly, one named Betty died shortly after arriving, but \u00a0Penelope\u00a0 and \u00a0Cecil\u00a0 thrived and became celebrities, attracting \u00a0media attention\u00a0. The public eagerly anticipated their reproduction, but after a brief four-day \u201cromance,\u201d things did not go as planned.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\n ![\"Platypus\"\/](\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754847608_680_During-World-War-II-Australia-sent-a-platypus-to-Churchill.jpeg\")
\n ![\"Platypus\"](\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754847608_680_During-World-War-II-Australia-sent-a-platypus-to-Churchill.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n <span>Image: Australia Museum<\/span><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe reproduction process of platypuses is particularly fascinating; they are monotremes, meaning they lay eggs despite being mammals. They are one of only five species of mammals that do so, the others being echidnas. The failure of Penelope to reproduce subsequently became a \u00a0scandal\u00a0 of sorts at the time.<\/p>\n
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In \u00a01957\u00a0, Penelope mysteriously vanished, and \u00a0Cecil\u00a0 reportedly died the next day from a shattered heart, as per press accounts. Following these events, Australia instituted stringent bans on the export of platypuses. Over the past 70 years, only two platypuses have left the country, both to the \u00a0San Diego Zoo\u00a0 in 2019.<\/p>\n
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Cover image | Yousuf Karsh<\/a> and Michael Jerrard<\/a><\/p>\nIn Xataka | If Spain believes that velutinas are a problem is because it does not know what the US has found: radioactive wasps<\/p>\n