Bilbies

There are a number of conservation measures already being undertaken to try and prevent the extinction of the Greater bilby, an endangered marsupial of Australia. The Lesser bily is already believed to be extinct, but it is not yet too late to save the Greater Bilby.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has been studying and monitoring a bilby colony in far west Queensland since 1988, whilst scientific research on both the ground and from the air has surveyed south-west Queensland to study habits and numbers of the bilby. The Astrebla Downs National Park, a protected reserve, includes this western Qld colony. Already there have been successful reintroductions of captive-bred individuals into sites located in Western Australia and South Australia.

In addition, bilbies are being bred in captivity in Queensland, the Northern Territory, and South Australia. This ensures their protection, and there are plans to reintroduce captive-bred bilbies to their former habitat if necessary, to ensure the bilby's overall survival.

Further measures being considered are the removal or increased control of cattle and predators.

The Save the Bilby Fund has more information. See the related link.

You can also contact an organisation like WIRES and inquire with them.

To raise funds for the bilbies cause, Darrel Lea has been selling chocolate bilbies, which have lead to a 25 sq km safe haven being erected in Currawinya National Park. On 19 April 2005, 30-40 bilbies were released, and another 6 in February 2006.

The Greater Bilby avoids predators by being nocturnal and hiding down it's burrow.

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chopping down trees

Bilbies, small native mrsupials of Australia, do not lay eggs. Bilbies are marsupials. they give birth to undeveloped live young, which crawl into the mother's pouch to continue their development.The only egg-laying mammals (monotremes) are the platypus and the echidna.

Yes. Bilbies have four legs. They have hind legs slightly similar in structure to kangaroos' hind legs, but they do not hop. Instead they move with a running gait, or canter, with their forelegs moving alternately and their hind legs moving in unison.

The two known bilbies are the Greater Bilby and the Lesser Bilby. The Lesser Bilby is believed to be extinct.

1; help save the bilby fund

Bilbies have light blue-grey fur with patches of tan, and a crested black and white tail. Their ears are large, pink and bald.

To see a picture of a bilby, click on the related link.

Yes. The bilby has a long, sticky tongue to help it when feeding on fungi, root bulbs and insect larvae. It uses its tongue to collect food from the ground and shallow burrows.

Bilbies live in semi-arid areas, so they rarely need to drink water directly, being able to fulfil their moisture needs with the seeds, fungi, insects and larvae which they eat.

The bilby's large ears have several purposes. The main reason for having large ears is for thermo regulation (to cool the bilby). Blood flows quickly into the thin tissue around the Bilby's ears, preventing them from getting too hot during the day and from losing body heat quickly at night.

These large ears give the bilby an excellent sense of hearing, which makes up for the fact that their sense of sight is not as well-developed. They can also be rotated, much as a cat's ears do, to discern direction and distances of sounds.

The bilby's life cycle:

Bilbies start breeding at around six months old. They usually give birth to two young at a time, and breed throughout the year, so may have up to eight young in one year.

Being a marsupial, the young joeys are born after a short gestation period of about 2 weeks, so are very undeveloped. They crawl by instinct into the mother's pouch, where they latch onto a teat which swells in their mouth, securing them so they don't fall out of the pouch. Female bilbies have backward-opening pouches, which prevent soil entering the pouch when they are digging.

They feed on mothers' milk and stay in the pouch for about 75 - 80 days, after which they are kept in a nesting burrow for a few more weeks.

Yes and no.

Bilbies eat ants, termites, beetles, centipedes, grasshoppers and other insects, larvae, seeds, bulbs, fruit and fungi. Occasionally they may eat small mammals such as mice, but this tends to be only when other foods are not readily available. It tends to be more a matter of opportunity: if a mouse presents itself for an easy meal, and there is nothing more palatable, the bilby is likely to eat the mouse.

Bilbies are hunted by feral cats, wild dogs and foxes, which have sadly and significantly depleted their numbers.

Australian native animals which hunt bilbies include quolls, dingoes, carpet pythons and birds of prey.

The word "bilby" comes from the aboriginal language Yuwaalaraay and is said to mean "long-nosed rat".

Among other foods, yes.

Bilbies are omnivores and nocturnal feeders. They eat ants, termites, beetles, centipedes and grasshoppers and other insects, larvae, seeds, bulbs, fruit and fungi. Occasionally they may eat small mammals. They use their strong forelegs to dig and search for food, and their long nose to help dig out larvae as well.

Rabbits do not directly threaten bilbies, but they have created a threat to the bilby's survival. The introduction of the rabbit, which voraciously eats much of the vegetation the bilby eats, has resulted in reduced food sources. Rabbits also dig burrows which cause problems for the bilby's habitat, as they tend to cause the bilbies to be caved in. The bilby's habitat has also suffered from being trampled on by herds of stock animals.

It is estimated that there are currently 600-700 bilbies remaining in the wild.

The bilby has adapted to its arid Australian environment through several key features: it has large ears that help dissipate heat and enhance its sense of hearing, allowing it to detect predators and find food. Its long, pointed snout is well-suited for foraging insects and plant roots in the sandy soil. Additionally, the bilby's nocturnal behavior helps it avoid daytime heat and reduces competition for food. These adaptations enable the bilby to thrive in harsh conditions where water and food sources are scarce.

Habitat loss is one of the main dangers to bilbies. Prior to European settlement, bilbies were across about two-thirds of Australia, but being highly vulnerable to habitat loss and competition with introduced animals, it has not survived in those areas.

Natural predators of the bilby include dingoes and quolls, although due to habitat loss, quolls no longer share habitats with the bilby, which has been driven further inland. Carpet pythons and birds of prey also pose a danger.

Feral dogs, foxes and cats are introduced predators of the bilby. Whilst not predators, introduced rabbits pose a threat to the bilby. Not only do they eat the bilbies' food, but their burrowing often causes the bilbies' burrows to cave in, trapping and suffocating the bilbies.

There is no such animal as a nail-tail bilby.

There is just the Greater bilby, which is not aggressive. The only "nail-tail" is the nailtail wallaby, and it is not aggressive either.