Greater Bilby

Apperance
        The bilby is part of the bandicoot family with large rabbit like ears and hind feet. It also has a long pale snout, and a black and white tail. It has a delicate apperance with its long and soft grey fur. The bilby has very good hearing and sense of smell but has poor eye sight. The only form of camouflage is to hide in its burrow and venture out at night time for food. Its colouring blends into the Australia bush and desert.  

Lenght
The Bilby is 30-45cm in length  which includes a tail about 25 cm.    
Weight
It weighs about 1 to 2 kg

Habitat
     It has restricted ranges which include hummock grasslands and acacia shrublands including spinifex and tussock grass. This species constructs burrows in its desert climate. A bilby's shelter can consist of 2 different types of burrows which can either be a series of tunnels with several entrances or a spiral or circular type of burrow. It generally spends all day in its burrow. The burrows can be up to 1.5m underground.

Eating and Diet Habits
       The bilby is omnivorous eating insects, seeds and fruits. The bilby doesn't drink very much water because it gets it water from the food it eats. It is able to obtain its food using its sharp claws, searching for food at dusk.  

                                                    
                           From the Australian Appreciation Bilby Society site help them save the bilby!!

Predators
Predation is the main cause of the bilbies loss many of the predator destory the enviroment like domestic stock and feral animals and dingoes eat the bilby.

Breeding habits

Numbers
     Their are a total of 600-700 bilbies in Queensland.

Location
         Greater Bilbies used to live in over 70% of mainland Australia.  They are now found only in the Tanami Desert (NT), the Greater Sandy Desert and Gibson Desert (WA) and in south-western Queensland.

Problem

• habitat destruction by cattle and rabbits.
• predation by cats, dingoes and foxes.  
• Destored habit made them vunerable to predators. 
• They were hunted occassionly looking like rabbits.
• changes in fire regimes.

Solution  

• Ensure Greater Bilbies survive in areas where they now exist.
• translocate Greater Bilbies to suitable areas like the
• Donations and fundraisers from Buttercup, makers of the Bilby Easter Buns, and All Australian Greetings, makers of our Australian Wildlife Calendars.
• Join the Save the bilby fund and join in restoring vegaetation and fundraising money to save the bilby and get a bonus reward.
• The Save the bilby fund is responsible for opening of the bilby fencein Currawinya National Park on Easter Sunday in 2001 to protect against predators. When the fence is completed the predators will be removed from the 25km square enclosure and bilbies will be reintroduced. 
• Buy bilby products to save the bilby like chocolate bilbies and soft toys.
• inform the public about threatened species issues.
• encourage habitat retention and restoration.
• encourage the community-based collection of more information about the species and its habitat.
• ongoing habitat management.
• ongoing vermin control and eradication.
• captive breeding and establishing new colonies.
• genetic assessment of all populations of Great Bilbies.
• support your local environment groups.
• raise money for the rehabilitation of sites for Great Bilbies.
• learn more about endangered animals, particularly those native to your area.
• be a responsible pet owner so they do not impact on Great Bilby or other wildlife.
• help in the eradication of foxes, cats and rabbits.
• protect remnant native vegetation under Heritage Agreement and by excluding stock .
• revegetate cleared land with indigenous plants.