November 22, 2000

1 min read

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Bilby Boom

By Kate Wong

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Source: Adelaide University Media

A 14-square-kilometer enclosure in central Australia is once again home to bouncing baby bilbies, thanks to the efforts of a project aimed at restoring a larger area to pre-European condition. These rare bandicoots, and numerous other animals and plants, once thrived in the region, but have declined dramatically as a result of land clearance and the introduction of species such as cats, rabbits and foxes. The Arid Zone Recovery Project, however, hopes to reverse those effects by eradicating the introduced species, regenerating the native vegetation and re-establishing the native animals in 60 square kilometers of the Roxby Downs area. The reintroduction of the Greater Bilby (right) is their latest success.

The Project released nine bilbies at Easter. With the second round of pouch young emerging, they estimate that around 20 bilbies now inhabit the site. Researchers plan to take advantage of the bilby boom, which is providing a valuable opportunity to study these little-known marsupials. Preliminary observations of bilbies that have been fitted with transmitters show that the animals are traveling throughout the enclosure and digging extensively for their favorite roots and insects, according to project coordinator Katherine Moseby. The construction of a cat-, rabbit- and fox-proof fence has provided critical protection to these marsupials, and plans to fence in the entire 60 square kilometers should be completed by the end of the year. "Once we remove the last of the rabbits, the bilbies can have access to the whole project area next year," Moseby says. "Then some really interesting studies can be started."

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she has focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for nearly 30 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home to the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, as well as to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and a “Big Day” race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Wong is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Bluesky @katewong.bsky.social

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