by Commonly known as the ‘Water Rat’, the Rakali is the lesser known of Australia’s two amphibious mammals.
I live in St Kilda, south of Melbourne, a couple of blocks from the beach. One of the great things about living here are the many walks available, right from my doorstep.
Albert Park Lake is close by, so is the St Kilda foreshore. And the Bayside Trail stretches all the way from Port Melbourne to Frankston.
If I am walking along one of the beach tracks, it is not uncommon to see rats and mice. There are a lot of park areas adjacent to the beach, and many of the dunes are grassy; this plus plenty of food scraps makes a perfect environment.
They pop out of the grass along the track’s edge, and scoot across in front of you.
A few days ago, I was out for a walk along the beach near Port Melbourne and came across an interesting information sign. This advised that the area was a natural habitat for an animal I had not heard of before, called a ‘Rakali’.
It seems that not every scooting critter I had seen was a rat or mouse after all.
The Rakali is a small amphibious mammal, similar in size and shape to a rat. This explains their common name: they are most often referred to as ‘water rats’ (and sometimes, the ‘Australian otter’).
Their scientific name, Hydromys chrysogaster, translates as ‘golden water mouse’.
Rakali have a dark grey or brown body, with a white or orange belly. Their heads are flattened and elongated, with prominent whiskers and small ears, and their tales often have a signature white tip. They have short legs have webbed feet.
This last they share with Australia’s only other amphibious mammal, the much better-known Platypus.
The two species have other traits in common, including waterproof fur, and a diet consisting of crustaceans and other small marine animals. Both live in burrows in the banks of lakes and streams, although Rakali will also live near salt water, which Platypus do not.
Rakali are originally from Papua New Guinea, where three adjacent species are still found.
3 million years ago, during the last glacial maximum, much of earth’s water was frozen in expanded ice sheets and glaciers. This caused a lowering of global sea levels, connecting land masses that would otherwise be separated by ocean.
During this period, Australia and Papua New Guinea were connected by a land bridge. Animals could move freely between the two, the Rakali’s ancestors moved south and established themselves in northern Australia.
When the last glacial maximum ended, Rakali were stuck in their new home. But they were well suited to the Australian environment, and would eventually spread throughout the country.
They are now found in most parts of Australia, with the highest concentration along the east coast of the mainland, and Tasmania.
European settlement of Australia began in 1788, with the founding of a British penal colony at Port Jackson. Among the many new animals the settlers would encounter were Rakali, first described by Europeans in 1804.
They were a common sight along the waterways around the growing city of Sydney.
Australian settlement was largely pastoral at first, Rakali were regarded as a pest. Mistaken for rats, farmers who encountered them would try and eradicate them as they would other rodents.
Other early settlers studied them with curiosity, recognising something distinctive in this small animal.
‘Being nocturnal in its habits it is rarely seen in daylight. It swims not in a straight line but describes a succession of small circles, frequently doubling back again over the spot it has already traversed, and constantly diving for its food. They feed principally on fish, in the capture of which it is very expert.’
– Launceston Examiner, March 1865.
But they were often viewed with hostility in the colonial period.
The threat to the Rakali increased greatly during the Great Depression.
The global fur trade had grown dramatically through the 19th and early 20th centuries. Fur was popular for clothing, animals with high quality coats like minks and sables were hunted and farmed for their pelts.
But such was the demand that a wide variety of animals became snared in the industry, including otters, beavers and foxes. Among the most popular was the Muskrat.
Muskrats are small aquatic rodents native to North America. While not as prized as other fur bearing animals, their skins were still sought after for cheaper clothing.
In the 19th century, Muskrat trapping became a huge industry in the Western United States. Millions of animals were captured, the most successful trappers became very wealthy; John Jacob Astor, America’s first multi-millionaire, got his start as a fur trapper.
Muskrat pelts were shipped all over the world.
The pelts were popular in Australia, but they became a victim of the Great Depression’s economic downturn. During this difficult period, and in an era of strict currency control, the Australian government was concerned about imported goods sending Australian money overseas.
Pelt imports were banned in 1930. Local clothing manufacturers then looked to find another source for the fur they required.
‘Those in the fur trade declare that water-rat skins are ideal in place of imported fur. Single skins have brought up to 4 and 6 each, and recently attained a record price of 40 shillings a dozen. Even higher prices were paid for the golden species with the black vertebral stripe.’
– Adelaide Chronicle, June 1936
With high demand and prices, Rakali hunting became a profitable business. The skins were used to make coats and hats, the animal’s numbers declined dramatically.
So much so that even in a less environmentally conscious era, the Federal Government awarded the species protected status in 1938. Fur import rules were eventually relaxed again, and Rakali hunting banned outright.
In contemporary times, the animal’s contribution to the local ecosystem is better appreciated.
Rakali eat fungi and help to spread fungal spores through their droppings, which allows native plants to extract nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen from the soil. They are also one of the few animals to be a natural predator for cane toads.
‘Rakali are the only mammal found to specifically target large toads, neatly dissecting them to eat their internal organs while avoiding the poisonous skin and glands.’
– Australian Geographic
While Rakali numbers have recovered since the 1930s, and they are again commonly found around Australia’s waterways, the animals are still not widely known. Shy and elusive, hunting at dusk and dawn, and living in underground burrows, they keep a low profile.
Like myself, many people who do encounter them mistake them for something else.
To raise awareness of this beautiful and distinctive animal, February 18 each year has been dubbed Rakali Awareness Day. A lively online community shares pics, videos, and encounter stories, of Rakali they have seen in their areas.
As they are comfortable in urban areas as well as rural, you might see one next time you are out for a walk near the water, hiding in plain sight.
