Easter Bilby twins on show at Australian Reptile Park

Australian Reptile Park

A very rare sighting will be taking place over the Easter break at Australian Reptile Park, with twin baby bilbies Adoni and Alkina to be surfaced from their burrows for guests to admire in the park’s limited time only Easter Bilby Show. Taking place from Friday 25 to Monday 28 March the show is in recognition of the iconic Aussie Easter Bilby, one of Australia’s most endangered marsupials.

As part of Australian Reptile Park’s successful breeding program in partnership with Save the Bilby Fund, the twin bilbies were born at Australian Reptile Park and are now at an age (6months) where they can be weaned from their parents to be on show at Australian Reptile Park.

The bilby is a threatened species with less than 1000 remaining in the wild and numbers are decreasing, says Tim Faulkner, General Manager at Australian Reptile Park, and Head of Conservation.

“We’re proud to surface our baby bilbies and their parents to be on show at a time when Australians pay attention to them over Easter, it’s a very rare sighting considering todays populations are isolated to arid areas in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, where they are considered endangered.

“There are many recovery projects in progress to save the bilby and Australian Reptile Park may only have a small breeding program, but it’s a successful one, where they are free from feral foxes and cats which are the main cause for reducing the species to such low numbers.”

In recent years the bilby has been put forward as a new Easter symbol for Australia. It is a small marsupial with a long nose and tail, however it shares one feature with the Easter Bunny, and that is its ears! Bilbies are solitary and nocturnal, only appearing from their underground burrows after dark. Burrows may be up to 3m in length and 1.8m deep.

The bilby is part of the Bandicoot family. It has one of the shortest gestation periods of any Australian marsupial, with younglings developing in as little as 14 days. Within six months they are weaned from their parents and supporting the environment as eco system engineers, critical to the ecology of Australia’s arid inland.

The Easter Bilby chocolate is becoming more common on our supermarket shelves alongside the traditional rabbit, Save The Bilby Fund have noted Pink Lady Chocolates is one of the leading chocolate manufacturers that provide a portion of funds from each chocolate sold to help save the bilby.

See the Easter Bilby at Australian Reptile Park from Friday 25 March to Monday 28 March over the Easter long weekend both in the nocturnal house and in the Easter Bilby show. For more details on visiting Australian Reptile Park see www.reptilepark.com.au.

Location - Directions

The Australian Reptile Park is located at Somersby on Sydney's Central Coast, close to the Sydney-Newcastle express way, perfect to include with tours to Hunter Valley, Barrington Tops and Port Stephens. Less than one hour north of Sydney Harbour Bridge or south of Newcastle, we're the first stop on the 'new' Pacific Coast Touring Route after Sydney.

Getting Here by Car...

Travel on the Sydney - Newcastle freeway (M1/F3), take the Gosford exit and follow the signs. Less than one hour north from Sydney's Harbour Bridge and south from Newcastle and only two minutes from the Gosford exit.  If you are using a navigation device to get the the Reptile Park, use this address: Myoora Road, Somersby, NSW 2250