Baby Bilbies Born at Taronga Zoo Sydney

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: October 1, 2020 11:30 pm

A pair of bilby joeys have been born at Taronga Zoo Sydney

Photo Credit: Taronga Zoo Sydney

Taronga Zoo Sydney have announced their first bilby joeys in over 5 years. The twins, one male and one female were born in early June. They were born in an off-display breeding center at the zoo’s backyard to bush exhibit.

Keepers have named the pair ‘Sandy’ and ‘Tanami’ in reference to two deserts in Western Australia where the bilby is commonly found.

Unit Supervisor of the Australian Presentation Precinct Simon Brown said, “Both Sandy and Gibson are progressing extremely well, currently weighing in at 500 grams and are showing all the right traits that they will be ideal candidates for release, especially Sandy (female) as she is very independent and quite feisty.”

A pair of bilby joeys have been born at Taronga Zoo Sydney

Photo Credit: Taronga Zoo Sydney

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Greater bilby joeys spend the first 75 days of their life in mums pouch. Mum provides further care once they leave her pouch.

“Although the birth of two joeys may seem insignificant to some, female bilbies can actually breed up to 20 joeys in their lifetime, so these two births are contributing heavily to the future population of this iconic native species,” says Mr Brown.

“The Greater Bilby used to inhabit 70% of Australia’s mainland, but over the last 200 years their population has dramatically decreased due to the introduction of predators such as feral foxes and cats, competition with rabbits and habitat degradation limiting the areas they inhabit to only 15%.”

“It is humbling to know that these two joeys will go on to contribute their valuable genetics to Taronga’s Westerns Plain’s breeding program and potentially join the recently released Greater Bilbies as part of the Wild Deserts Project at Sturt National Park, an incredible and collaborative effort from UNSW ecologists, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Taronga,” finished Brown.