History

The bilby is regarded as vulnerable to extinction because of the substantial reduction (=80%) in its range since the late 1800’s (2).

At the time of European settlement, the bilby was distributed over 70% of arid and semiarid Australia, but now exists in two isolated areas – a small region of South-West Queensland and a broader, but low density distribution in the western deserts of Western Australian and Northern Territory (2). Also at this time cattle, sheep and rabbits become introduced competition for the Bilby, and they suffered from habitat loss and limited food sources (2).

The bilby previously occurred in South Australia and New South Wales but was never recorded to be living in Victoria (3). The occurrence of the Bilby has changed little in the past 20 years (3).

In 1988 Alice Springs reintroduction experiment occurred however the population collapsed after only two years (3). A predator proof fences was put around Scotia Sanctuary in 2004, captive breed bilbies were released into the site, this has also been done with many other reintroduction sites (3). Fixed transects, random plots and Ariel surveys were conducted to survey the bilby population in the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory (3).

The following maps are of the distribution of the Greater Bilby, you can see the decline in distribution up to 1970 has resulted in a significant decrease in population size as 1991-2004 is greatly less distribution compared to up to 1970 and 1971-1990.

Bilby distribution up to 1970

Bilby distribution 1971-1990

Bilby distribution 1991-2004