Bilbies bred in a sanctuary in Dubbo have provided researchers with vital clues about how they would fare in temperate Australia where they once thrived.
A study of greater bilbies at Taronga Western Plains Zoo has provided some new ideas about how bilbies would cope if reintroduced to temperate areas of Australia where they once roamed.
Today the bilby is a threatened native marsupial that is restricted to areas where introduced predators are excluded or intensively managed. The beloved animal, often referred to as Australia's answer to the Easter Bunny, has not lived within the temperate zone of their former range - southeastern and southwestern Australia - for more than 100 years.
Since European settlement, bilbies have experienced a massive decline in range due to competition with invasive rabbits and predation by feral predators such as cats and foxes.
And now scientists from UNSW Sydney and Taronga Conservation Society Australia have used a large sanctuary at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo - part of the temperate zone in Australia - to better understand their habitat requirements in this part of the country.
Dr Kate Cornelsen was lead author in a study published today in the journal Animal Behaviour that detailed how greater bilbies responded to a temperate environment. Her PhD research in the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW focused on understanding the habitat preferences and movement patterns of these unique nocturnal marsupials in the Sanctuary in Dubbo, where bilbies are being bred to release into the wild. She says up until now, very little is known about what bilbies do and need in the temperate zone.
"If bilbies are to be restored in the temperate zone where they once thrived, we need to know much more about where they like to go and what they need there," she says.
"We fitted tiny GPS tracking devices to the tails of 20 greater bilbies, which recorded where the bilbies were every hour, giving us a unique insight into their nocturnal habits and preferences in this area."
