At one time, there were two species of bilby in Australia – the ‘lesser’ and the ‘greater’ bilby. Now, only the ‘greater’ bilby survives. Trappers, predators (including the Aboriginal population), and territorial competition from rabbits forced the lesser bilby into extinction in the 1950s. There is estimated to be about 600 ‘greater’ Bilbys in the wild.
The Save the Bilby Fund built a 29 km predator exclusion fence at Currawinya National Park in Queensland in 2001. Due to drought, the first four bilbies weren’t placed in the sanctuary until 2005, where they started breeding. It is thought that the population had grown to more than 80 bilbies inside the park.
However, the extreme flooding in Queensland in the middle of last year, damaged the sanctuary’s fence. Water covered the bottom of the fence in the low areas for months causing the netting to rot, and cats have entered the reserve. It is believed they have killed the Bilbys living there.
The Save the Bilby Fund recently spent 16 days shooting 3,000 feral cats to keep them away from the damaged fencing.
This Easter, the Save the Bilby Fund is asking people to support them in their work killing cats. You can too, by buying an Easter Bilby.
(If you would prefer – your Easter Bilby contribution could instead be killing rabbits).
HAPPY EASTER!
The Bilby is obviously rare, however I would still feel sympathy for the cats. After all, they are also now stuck in the wild to fend for themselves.
Why not trap some and rehome them? Also build a drain around the fence, we do get floods here in Queensland y,now…