Australia’s Easter Bilby Back From Extinction

Summary

Australia's Easter Bilby, a chocolate version of the endangered native marsupial, is making a comeback alongside conservation efforts to increase the real bilby population.

Abstract

The Easter Bilby, a chocolate treat inspired by the endangered Australian marsupial, is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. This mirrors the conservation success story of the greater bilby, which was rediscovered in Queensland in 1988 after being thought extinct. The Save The Bilby Fund has been instrumental in this recovery, establishing a sanctuary and breeding program that has allowed the species to slowly increase in number. Similarly, chocolate bilbies, once discontinued by major chocolate companies, are now back on shelves with Darrell Lea's limited release, contributing to the Save the Bilby Fund's goal of introducing 10,000 bilbies into the population by 2030.

Opinions

The author expresses a positive view of the Save The Bilby Fund's efforts, highlighting the importance of their work in preserving the species.
There is an underlying sentiment of nostalgia and cultural significance attached to the Easter Bilby tradition in Australia.
The author seems to advocate for consumer support of the Save The Bilby Fund through chocolate bilby purchases and direct donations.
The author is not affiliated with the Save The Bilby Fund but supports their mission and encourages readers to contribute to their cause.
There is an appreciation for the bilby's ability to breed quickly when provided with a safe environment, drawing a parallel to human resilience.

The bunny’s not the only one dishing out chocolate eggs

This time of the year is synonymous with a long-eared, pointy-nosed creature delivering chocolate eggs for kids to wake up to. This is the magic of the Down-Under Easter Bilby, and just like the endangered native Australian animal, the chocolate version is making a comeback from extinction.

Image credit: author’s own.

While traditional bunnies have no trouble propagating whatever countryside they’re in, Australia’s native bilby remains endangered due to predation by feral cats and foxes, plus the invasion of rabbits, not all Easter-related ones.

For many years there were no records of greater bilbies in my sunny home state of Queensland, and some thought that the species was extinct. In 1988 though, the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service rediscovered the greater bilby which today is found in several locations out west.

It was here that the Save The Bilby Fund opened a Bilby Sanctuary in 2003, surrounded by an electrified predator-exclusion fence. This allowed a bilby breeding program to flourish. Despite their endangered nature, bilbies are a fast breeding animal if given the chance to do so. Like so many of us really.

From generous donations, the small but dedicated team behind the Save the Bilby Fund continues to upgrade captive breeding facilities and provide an environment that trains bilbies for release.

Historically, it wasn’t only the real bilby on the endangered species list, but their Easter chocolate cousins as well. For three years UK chocolate company, Cadbury, manufactured a chocolate Easter Bilby, donating $10,000 annually to the Save the Bilby Fund, but announced it would no longer make chocolate bilbies in 2019.

Australian chocolate company, Darrell Lea, started selling its chocolate bilbies back in 1999. Prior to the company’s 2012 store closures, it donated approximately $60,000 each year to The Save the Bilby Fund from chocolate bilby sales. It also stopped making the chocolate version of this little critter.

Just as the real bilby’s numbers are slowly on the rise, so too are choc-bilbies. This year, Darrell Lea has stocked supermarkets with a limited number of its chocolate bilbies, donating 20 cents from each sale to the Save the Bilby Fund, furthering the charity’s mission to introduce 10,000 bilbies in the population by 2030.

When it comes to finding colourful eggs under the BBQ this year, we now know exactly which mythical creature is responsible, and what we can do to ensure it actually doesn’t become a mythical creature in the future.

I’m not in any way affiliated with Save The Bilby but I’m sure they’re keen for a donation wherever possible to keep this little marsupial on the hop for many Easters to come.

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