WHAT do you give as a birthday present to the oldest matriarch of her species?
Tickles. That's right. Tickles.
The Healesville Sanctuary celebrated the 25th birthday of Fleay the platypus - the world's oldest known platypus - with a little bit of a tickle from her keeper.
In video of the big day, Fleay, not known as a morning girl, overcame her early-to-rise blues as her keeper, Jessica Thomas, gave the birthday girl a good old, all-body scratch.
Fleay reciprocated the gift with a platypus show of appreciation: a duckbilled smooch.
Fleay and Thomas have been working together for over a decade with Thomas just completing her PhD in Platypus Biology and Breeding.
