MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Sydney’s Taronga Zoo has welcomed two baby bilbies, small rabbit-like marsupials with long floppy ears, endangered animals that zookeepers hope to use as part of a breeding programme or release back into the wild.
Zookeepers named the two male joeys Mallee and Cliff after a national park about 790 kilometres (490 miles) west of Sydney, where the creatures were once found in abundance, and where they are now being reintroduced. Both animals are four months old.
“The greater bilby was extinct here in New South Wales,” said zookeeper Paul Hare. “But the Taronga Conservation Society has had a very successful breeding program where we have been able to breed them up, put them into the sanctuary that we have put together with the idea that eventually they will be able to be released into the wild.”
Bilbies are believed to have inhabited Australia for up to 15 million years and were once found across 70% of Australia’s landmass, according to Bush Heritage Australia.
They use their strong forelimbs and claws to build tunnels, which provide shelter from Australia’s sometimes fierce heat as well as predators.
Some threats the animals have faced include introduced species such as foxes and cats, as well as habitat destruction, Hare said.
“The great news for these joeys is that they will either be part of our breeding program or potentially be part of our release program,” he said.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
