Tag #16257 - APC - EASTER BILBY


APC - APRIL 2011
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The Easter Bunny has been an important part of Easter celebrations all over the world, but Australians have often questioned its suitability for our nation. In Australia feral rabbits are a major environmental problem and in most states it is illegal to own a rabbit. The Easter Bilby is an important reminder to Australians of the plight of our native wildlife.
A bilby is a kind of bandicoot. It has a black tail with a white tip. They eat insects and fruit. They have greyish fur and ears a bit like a rabbit's.
The exact origin of the Easter Bilby concept is unknown, but it dates back to at least the late 1970s.
Queensland children's author Rose-Marie Dusting self-published the book Billy the Aussie Easter Bilby in Adelaide in 1979 and is recognised by many as Australia's Bilby Lady and creator of the Easter Bilby. Rose-Marie has been a passionate Bilby advocate for over 20 years and a percentage of the sales of her books have been donated to Bilby conservation.
Another suggestion is that the concept of the Easter Bilby was invented between 1976 and 1983 by Malcolm Turner of the Hawthorn Junior Field Naturalists Club as a replacement for the Easter bunny at the Club’s traditional Easter bush camps. Officials of the Club acted as the Easter Bilby and delivered chocolate eggs to camp participants on Easter morning. The concept also appears to have been invented independently by Tony Robinson of the South Australian National Parks Service about 1980".
The Anti Rabbit Research Fund of Australia (now known as the Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia) began using the Easter Bilby in 1991 to highlight the damage that the introduced rabbit does to the native environment. They arranged for the first chocolate Bilbies to be produced in South Australia by Haigh's Chocolates, Melba's Chocolates and Cottage Box Chocolates in 1993. Now many more chocolate Bilbies are available each Easter.
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