Click on a topic to learn more about the bilby (Macrotis lagotis).
The Future
Backed into a corner - will this gentle creature survive?
These young bilbies are trying to burrow.
They were placed soon after in a captive breeding program.
Note how their ears fold back.
Burrows
Unlike other bandicoots, bilbies dig burrows
with a steep spiral
to a depth of 2 metres and length of 3 metres.
The single entrance is usually located next
to a termite mound or shrub.
Soil refuse forms a mound around the entrance.
When home, the bilby blocks the entrance for some distance.
Diet
A field of bilby food - Button Grass
Bilbies eat insects and their larvae, seeds,
bulbs,
fruit, fungi and the odd mouse.
Habitat
Bilbies favour areas with little vegetation.
They once inhabited areas of savannah woodland, but have long
since left these better watered parts. They now inhabit arid
hummock grassland with spinifex or tussock grass.
There are only 3 Bilby isolates left in
Australia -
one in the Diamantina area, one in Northern Territory
and another in Western Australia.
Description
This graceful bandicoot can weigh between
800 and 2500 grams, about the size of a cat.
It has long, silky, blue grey fur with white on the underside.
Bilbies have beautiful tails - first grey near
the base
then black and ends in white.
There is a crest on the upper surface of the tail.
It often carries its tail like a stiff banner.
It has a nail like horny spur on the end.
When relaxed, their ears fold back.
Predators
Large populations of feral cats have
slaughtered
our gentle, defenseless bilby. The cats are vicious
and usually larger than a domestic cat.
Bilbies are easy prey for dingoes and foxes
as they have poor eyesight.
Cattle and sheep take over bilby habitats.
Bilby food and burrows are destroyed by herds.
Introduction of dams and bore water has increased
the number of bilby competitors.
There are many other reasons for Bilbies
being endangered, including people.
Find out what other factors effect this gentle
bandicoot
when you read "An Apology To Bilbies".