Monitoring Country
Bilby
- Bilba in Ullaroi/Yuwaalaraay, Ninu in Pintupi/Pitjantjatjara, Dalgyte in Noongar, Mankarr in Martu
- Scientific name: Macrotis lagotis
- Other common names: Greater Bilby, Rabbit-eared Bandicoot
Vulnerable
The Greater Bilby is a nocturnal, native marsupial. It has soft grey fur and long rabbit-like ears. There used to be another species called the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) but it went extinct in the 1960s.
There is a two-way science recovery plan for the Bilby. The recovery plan brings together Traditional Ecological Knowledge and scientific research to help people know what management and research is needed to best look after the Bilby.
Where Bilbies live
Occurrence Records
Use the + - Zoom controls to select an area
Where they live
Bilbies used to live across most of Australia but are now mostly found in more arid areas:
· Tanami Desert in Northern Territory
· Gibson Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Great Sandy Desert and parts of the Pilbara and Kimblery in Western Australia
· One population near Boulia in south-west Queensland
Bilbies have also been reintroduced to areas where they used to be found, including islands, feral-predator proof fenced areas and lands that are intensively managed for things like feral cats and fire.
Habitat
Bilbies are found in many different habitat types, like spinifex grasslands or Mulga shrublands or woodlands. They like areas that have soft sand for burrowing.
Where they sleep
Bilbies dig burrows to sleep in during the day. The burrows are spiral shaped and can be up to 3 m long and 2 m deep. Bilbies can dig very quickly and will extend their burrow to escape predators. Bilbies are known to travel large distances between different burrows. The burrows are often shared by males, females and their young, as well as other animals like goannas, echidnas and other small mammals.
What Bilbies look like
Bilbies are a medium-size marsupial with soft grey fur, a white tail with a fluffy black tip and long rabbit-like ears.
What Bilbies eat
Bilbies are omnivorous. They eat things like grubs, termites, spiders, seeds and bulbs. They usually dig for their food, leaving behind holes about 10-25 cm deep. You can often find their scat in the dirt piles next to the holes. If you break open the scat, you can find the shiny remains of insects.
Main Threats
Some of the key threats to the Bilby include:
- Predation by Feral Cats and Foxes
- Unhealthy Country or lost habitat caused by:
- wrong-way fire
- mining
- land clearing
- livestock and feral herbivores like Rabbits, Cattle and Camels
Better understand:
REMEMBER! Any time you do work that might disturb or interfere with native animals and vegetation, particularly threatened species (like Bilby), you need to check with the state authorities to see if you need any approvals, such as licences or animal ethics committee permits. Click here for links to your state’s websites.
You can monitor Bilbies to better understand:
· Where Bilbies do and don’t live
· How many Bilbies live on Country
· How well management of Country and Bilbies is working
By using one or more the following methods, you can better understand Bilby on your Country. If you monitor the same place at the same time every year, you can see if there are changes to Bilby on Country.
2 Ha Plot: Tracks, Scats, Diggings & Signs Survey
A good way to monitor Bilbies is by searching 2 ha areas for all signs of Bilbies, including tracks, scats, diggings and burrows. This survey doesn’t need specialised equipment but it is useful to have some tracking skills. The survey can be used to target Bilbies, but you can also record information on any other animals that leave behind signs.
What can you learn?
Presence/absence – if and where Bilbies live on Country
Occupancy - If enough plots surveyed, the presence/absence data can be used to estimate occupancy. This type of modelling helps to work how many places really have Bilbies, even if they weren’t detected at every plot. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be and if is getting smaller/bigger over time.
Activity - how many signs of Bilbies were detected during the survey. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be.
Population size – if the scat is collected and sent off for genetic analysis, the information can be used in a mark-recapture analysis to estimate how many Bilbies live on Country
Using it the Right-way
Bilbies use lots of different habitat types, so if you are targeting Bilbies for your survey, make sure the plots are spread across all of the different major habitat types found on Country.
You can learn more about the 2 Ha Plot method on the “How we check on things” page and in the Standard Operating Procedure 2 Ha Plot: Tracks, Scats, Diggings & Signs Survey
Remote Camera Survey
Remote cameras can be set up to take photos whenever an animal passes in front of the camera. This method is useful for Bilbies because it means you don’t have to search for or catch them. This type of survey can be used to monitor lots of different animals or can be targeted just to Bilbies.
You will need to buy good quality remote cameras, but not much training is needed for deploying cameras or identifying Bilbies in the images. Images can also be processed first with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, which can be useful when you have large numbers of images.
What can you learn?
Presence/absence – if and where Bilbies live on Country
Occupancy - If enough cameras are deployed at different sites, the presence/absence data can be used to estimate occupancy. This type of modelling helps to work how many places really have Bilbies, even if they weren’t detected on every camera. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be and if is getting smaller/bigger over time.
Activity - how many detections of Bilbies were detected during the survey. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be.
Using it the Right-way
Bilbies use lots of different habitat types, so make sure the cameras are spread across all of the different major habitat types found on Country.
Bilbies have been detected on cameras lured with universal bait (peanut butter and oats, with or without sardines), apple and sweet potato.
You can learn more about remote cameras on the “How we check on things” page and in the Landscape Scale Camera Trap Monitoring Environmental Monitoring Method.
Cage Trapping
Trapping can sometimes be used to catch Bilbies, but they can be difficult to catch because they are usually wary of entering traps. It usually requires lots of effort, so is generally only used if you need to check on the health of individuals.
What can you learn?
Health – trapping means you can collect information about weight, breeding status, sex ratios and genetics which can tell you how healthy individuals and/or the population are
Population size – if enough individuals are identified and caught multiple times, the data can be used in a mark-recapture analysis to estimate how many Bilbies live on Country
Using it the Right-way
There are some methods that can improve the capture rate, such as:
- Placing traps out in the field before trapping starts so that the animals get used to the traps. This can involve luring the traps and wiring open doors so they can go in and out.
- Using burrow traps, a type of cage trap that can fit into a burrow entrance.
Bilbies have been successfully trapped using universal bait (peanut butter and oats, with or without sardines), apple and sweet potato.
It is a good idea to find out where Bilbies are living before you put out the traps. This can involve searching for burrows or other signs, or using detection data from camera surveys. Once you know where the Bilbies are living, you can put your traps in those areas.
If you want to get a population estimate, make sure the traps are spread evenly across all of the different major habitat types found on Country. If you aren’t capturing many Bilbies, you may need to trap for more nights.
You can learn more about cage traps on the “How we check on things” page and in the Mammal Cage Trapping Environmental Monitoring Method.
Any time you do work that might disturb or interfere with native animals and vegetation, particularly threatened species, you need to check with the state authorities to see if you need any approvals, such as scientific licences or animal ethics committee permits.
VIEW PERMIT INFO
Camera traps are widely used in wildlife conservation to monitor animal presence, the number of sightings over time, and animal behaviour. They can be set to automatically take photos or videos when an animal is detected. Most camera traps use passive infrared (PIR) sensors that trigger the camera when an …
2 Ha Plot: Tracks, Scats, Diggings & Signs Survey
This is a method where trackers search a 2 hectare (Ha) area for all signs of animals, including tracks, scats, diggings and other signs. Signs can include:
· tracks
· fur or feathers
· …
Cage traps are made from wire mesh and have a door that is triggered to shut after an animal enters the trap and steps on the treadle plate. Cage traps are commonly used to capture medium-sized mammals, but they can also capture non-target species like birds and reptiles.
Cage …
Primary sources
This landing page was developing using the following sources:
Primary sources
This landing page was developed using the following sources:
- Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2023). Recovery Plan for the Greater Bilby (Macrotis lagotis), Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra, ACT. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/publications/recovery/greater-Bilby-2023
- Threatened Species Scientific Committee (2016). Conservation Advice: Macrotis lagotis Greater Bilby. Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra, ACT. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/282-conservation-advice-15072016.pdf
- Hogg, C.J., Edwards, R.J., Farquharson, K.A., Silver, L.W., Brandies, P., Peel, E., Escalona, M., Jaya, F.R., Thavornkanlapachai, R., Batley, K., Bradford, T.M., Chang, J.K., Chen, Z., Deshpande, N., Dziminski, M., Ewart, K.M., Griffith, O.W., Gual, L.M., Moon, K.L., Travouillon, K.J., Waters, P., Whittington, C.M., Wilkins, M.R., Helgen, K.M., Lo, N., Ho, S.Y.W., Herrera, A.R., Paltridge, R., Marshall Graves, J.A., Renfree, M., Shapiro, B., Ottewell, K., Rangers, K. & Belov, K. (2024). Extant and extinct bilby genomes combined with Indigenous knowledge improve conservation of a unique Australian marsupial. Nature Ecology & Evolution 8(2024); 1311-1326. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02436-2
- Australian Museum (2024). Greater Bilby https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/greater-Bilby/
Tools and resources
- A guide to monitoring Bilbies: https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/iejjy2j3/kj-guide-to-mankarr-monitoring-report_web-2.pdf