Zookeepers from Taronga Western Plains Zoo have released the first Greater Bilbies into the Taronga Sanctuary in Dubbo to help save the species from extinction.
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The nine Greater Bilbies released on Monday night will be joined by 11 more in coming weeks.
"The Greater Bilby has seen a decline in wild populations over the past century," NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean said.
"Their range used to span across 70 per cent of the continent, but is today confined to small pockets of very arid areas. Sadly, this species has been extinct in the wild in NSW for more than 100 years.
"The action being taken by Taronga Conservation Society Australia to save this iconic species from extinction is just one example of how we can protect them into the future."
The Taronga Sanctuary is a 110-hectare conservation and breeding site at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.
The purpose of the site is to breed a large number of genetically and behaviourally robust bilbies for release to the wild in NSW and beyond.
Bilbies released into the sanctuary have been carefully selected to create a genetically diverse founding population.
The offspring of the Greater Bilbies released into the sanctuary will form a population of healthy, robust Bilbies that will later be released into the wild, starting with Sturt National Park in the arid north-western corner of NSW.
"The Taronga Sanctuary project aims to become the largest breeding program for the Greater Bilby - literally the engine room enabling this species to thrive at rewilding sites around NSW," said Taronga Zoo CEO Cameron Kerr.
"That the Taronga Sanctuary will produce Greater Bilbies to be repopulated right across NSW is both exciting and critical to the long-term survival of this uniquely Australian species."
The five females and four males released last night have been health checked and have had tracking devices fitted to ensure accurate monitoring.
"The Greater Bilby is a very important species for the Australian ecosystem. Bilbies are constantly turning over soil as they dig burrows, improving the overall health of the soil by assisting nutrient cycling and water penetration," Mr Kerr said.
"As Australians we cannot afford to see this species become extinct, which is why Taronga is dedicated to ensuring its long-term survival through our sanctuary project.
"We are excited to be helping bring Bilbies back to NSW."
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Sanctuary keepers will monitor the Greater Bilbies' locations and movements via the tracking devices and wildlife monitoring cameras.
The Taronga Sanctuary project was funded by a major philanthropic donation.
Our beautiful bilbies
- The bilbies released into the sanctuary form what is called a founding population, the individuals have been very carefully chosen to ensure that they have a robust genetic diversity and can create a strong and diverse population of Bilbies to help repopulate sanctuaries and protected wild spaces right across NSW.
- The offspring of these Bilbies will form a population of healthy, robust Bilbies that will later be released into the wild.
- There were four male and five female Greater Bilbies released into the sanctuary.
- Djiripin (DJ), the largest male, is charismatic and bold. He's slow and not as energetic as the other boys but he is active and will go exploring.
- Billy, is a lot smaller than DJ but just as bold. He is quite energetic and is often running around. He is also quite exploratory and spends time checking out his environment.
- Granite is quite different. He's shy and doesn't take risks like the other boys.
- Charlie is quite energetic and exploratory like Billy.
- Bernadette is quite shy but she still explores her surroundings.
- Ruth is also shy, and will shy away from the others. She tends to like being alone.
- Maisie is really energetic, bold and feisty, and does a lot of exploring.
- Bell is really calm and bold.
- Sapphire is quite shy. She is very energetic and moves around a lot to explore her environment.
- They occasionally have their little arguments - when the males get annoyed at each other they will open their mouth and make a hissing noise.
- The male and female Bilbies were introduced just prior to being released into the Sanctuary. Taronga scientists will be looking to see if particular personalities are compatible for breeding and whether these personalities get passed on to the next generation.
- Greater Bilbies have pouch young about two weeks after breeding, but the offspring don't leave the pouch for about 70 days.
- Greater Bilbies have big ears like rabbits, soft fur and a long tail. They are expert excavators and will dig burrows that can spiral down to 2m. In the desert they more often live alone, but in more vegetated areas they may live in bigger groups among complex burrow systems.
- Greater Bilbies are perfectly adapted to arid living - they take in the water they need from their feed and do not need to be close to waterways. However 200 years ago they were distributed across broad Australian landscapes.