Bilby Merchandise
Visit our online shop to purchase a wide range of bilby merchandise including children’s books, bilby toys and much more. Please help us in our work to save the bilby.
History
Save The Bilby Fund has become one of Australia's success stories thanks to the support of everyday Australians. Our project has captured the imagination of people who would like to protect our unique species for future generations to see and enjoy.
Save the Bilby Fund was launched on 28th March 1999 by conservationists Frank Manthey and Peter McRae to raise money and awareness to help stop the steady decline of bilbies in Queensland. Bilbies were common in many different habitats throughout Australia until European settlement. Predation, predominantly by European Red Foxes and feral cats, has meant that bilby populations now only occur in the isolated arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.
The Queensland bilby population is the most threatened and genetically distinct population in Australia. It has declined in range during the past 10 years and is continuing to do so. Frank and Peter campaigned to raise the $500,000 needed to build the 25sq km Bilby Fence at Currawinya National Park, near Cunnamulla in Queensland. It has been designed to protect bilbies from feral animals and dangerous predators to enable them to live and breed in safety. It was completed in October 2002, but severe drought meant that bilbies were not actually released into the enclosure until 2005. The first three bilbies (all females) were released in December 2005 and a further 2 females and one male were released in February 2006. Another male was released in April 2006. There have been several subsequent releases and the bilby population inside the enclosure is doing extremely well.
The fence was built with donations from many thousands of supporters whose continued contributions assist us in our efforts to maintain the fence and expand our operations to help save the bilby.
Click here for more information about our achievements or click here for information on our current work.
