The bilby is a shy, nocturnal marsupial, unique to Australia. It has a grey and white silky coat, long, sensitive ears and a pink pointed nose. It has thick claws and strong forelimbs that enable it to dig rapidly in the desert soil, it is about the size of a cat, with the male growing up to half a metre in length from tip to tail, and weighing around one to two and a half kilos. It has an unusual black or dark grey tail with a pure white brush at the tip, which it holds in the air behind itself when it walks or runs about. These delightful little creatures normally live for about ten years. The Bilby is located in a small area in south-west Queensland and in isolated colonies spread across parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. However before European settlement it is believed they could be found in almost every state.
Why are they threatened?
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how can they be helped and what can we do?
you can donate to a foundation involved in protecting the bilby. Foundations all around Australia are working really hard to help these creatures grow in population however they need to be funded in some way and could really use more help. this would give them more money to work with.
You can celebrate national bilby day. Australia has started a national bilby day because one person was so enthusiastic about saving the bilby and he didn't give up until parliament approved it, it was approved in 2005. this could help raise awareness about bilbies. become a volunteer with a bilby foundation. Lots of these associations are quite small so it can be quite time consuming to put a plan into action but with your help they can get it up and going just a little bit sooner. They would be able to do more things with more hands volunteering. tell people about the bilbies condition. by word of mouth you can let many people know about what is going on and how much these creatures need help. The more people that know the easier they are to protect. most of all can you PLEASE make people aware of what is going on and support the bilby in any why you can. just try and do what ever you can to save these creatures. They are more surely worth saving. |
Save the Bibly - uploaded to youtube by SenatorSueBoyce
how have people acted in response the decline of the species?
- people have started building ecosystem restoration programs designed to produce plants and habitats suitable for the bilby.
- creating a whole day every year dedicated to saving and recognising these creatures.
- chocolate bilbies being available at Easter along with bunny's to raise awareness also some of the brands send all the money raised straight to the bilby foundation.
- some people have started making sure all cats have a home as the feral cats are killing multiple amounts of bilbies.
- choosing where to by houses making sure they aren't supporting companies destroying bilbies habitats so that the bilbies have a fighting chance.
- dedicating their lives to a foundation that will support and help the bilbies as well as giving them a place to grow up and live freely.
- they are listed as an Australian endangered animal and are illegal to kill
the bilbies status
students perspectives- "Bilbies are part of Australian life. If we were to lose them it would be like losing a part of Australia, so we should really support the people who are trying to keep them safe." - Anna, 13 "Bilbies are cute and a well known Australian creature if there is a way to save them we should. - Harry 14 Overall the students believe that the bilbies should be saved and that it is in there best interest to learn more about the individual creatures that are threatened at school so that they can be more aware of how we are treating our national animals and try to make a difference be saving there habitats and preserving the land of our country. |
the bilbies status
environmentalists perspectives- The Macrotis better known as the bilby has been under threat because of there habitats for many years now. It is time that they had a break and lived in peace in their natural habitat without human disturbance, however that doesn't look like it is going to happen any time soon so I believe that we should be doing absolutely every thing we can to make their habitat save and as much like home as we can. My team and I work on saving bilbies who's habitat has been destroyed by fires and building progress we go in treat injuries and try and relocate them to a similar habitat often near by however we can't save all of them. So in conclusion the bilbies habitat must be saved if we want to save the bilby and I personally think it is extremely important to stop destroying their habitat just for houses and we should stop being selfish by taking there homes. |