Bilby Research Paper

The Bilby, before European settlement where widely spread over around 70% of the Australian mainland than reduced to extinction in some states of Australia due to habitat loss and competition and predation from many introduced species. Through many reintroduction programs across Australia there population has now raised.

The Greater Bilby is a nocturnal bandicoot, the largest of the family of marsupials. They have an excellent sense of smell and sharp hearing which they rely on as they have poor vision. Bilbies are omnivores, they eat things such as seeds, spiders, insects and their larvae, bulbs, fruit, fungi and small animals. They mostly live on their own but sometimes live in small groups of up to 4.

Since European settlement in Australia the Greater Bilbies population has decreased from

From the Monarto Zoo captive breeding facility in 2000, nine Greater Bilbies were released into the main land of the Arid Reserve. In 2003 eight more bilbies from Monarto were released into the Northern Expansion, in 2004 a further bilbies 15 from Thistle Island in South Australia released into the Northern Expansion and another 10 were released from Monarto into the Northern Expansion in 2005. In 2008 a total of 48 (18 female and 24 male) had been introduced.

To support a sustainable population increase of the Greater Bilby the Arid Recovery is now attempting many ways to achieve this for the future. Including gradually expanding the reserve to facilitate population growth. Reintroduce natural predators such as the woma pythons to control overpopulation and help manage a more balanced ecosystem. Installing one-way gates from the reserve to allow natural dispersal of bilbies into the untracked land outside of the reserve. Also trying to establish a population of wild bilbies introduced directly outside of the reserve to determine if the bilbies would survive in the