To help raise funds for Save the Bilby Fund, Darrell Lea - which has been supporting the cause since 1999 - is holding a one of a kind Father's Day auction.  In honour of Father's Day, three Aussie dads - Karl Stefanovic, Dave Hughes and Matt Preston - have had their heads sculpted into life-sized replicas from 60 kg blocks of Darrell Lea chocolate by world-champion sculptor, Kenji Ogawa.  The chocolate heads, along with Darrell Lea hampers, are being auctioned to the highest bidder on eBay, with every single dollar raised going to the Save the Bilby Fund in support of National Bilby Day, 11 September 2011.  For your chance to own your very own delicious Darrell Lea chocolate celebrity head, bid on your favourite sculpture at eBay between Monday 5 September and Sunday 11 September 2011.  Thank you and good luck!

Click here to bid on the chocolate sculpture of Karl Stefanovic

Click here to bid on the chocolate sculpture of Dave Hughes

Click here to bid on the chocolate sculpture of Matt Preston

Our Competition for Schools

Face The Challenge Crossword Competition finishes soon! Click on the image below to enter the competition website. Register your school or organisation and download the crossword. Entry is FREE and you could WIN some great prizes! The competition provides a wonderful research opportunity for students and will help to educate about our endangered Australian wildlife and the threats to survival they face. Entry is open to children aged 5 to 18 years.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE LINK BELOW TO ENTER FIND OUT MORE-- GOOD LUCK!!

Friendship

Frank Manthey and Peter McRae would like to invite you to become a Friend of our successful organisation.  Click here to download a Friendship form.

Jessica Watson Helps to Save the Bilby

A baby bilby has been named after one of Australia’s most inspiring young achievers, solo around the world sailor and 2011 Young Australian of the Year, Jessica Watson.    Click here to see more. 

National Threatened Species Day 2011

Join Save The Bilby Fund along with Zoos and Aquariums at a FREE event at a city location near you on Wednesday 7 September 2011. Click here to download the event poster with contact information. School groups are welcome. RSVP as a large school group to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 02 9978 4640.

SYDNEY - Wynyard Park
PORT MACQUARIE - Settlement City
MELBOURNE - Queensbridge Square
BRISBANE - Queen Street Mall

Zoos and Aquariums play an important conservation role to save Australia's animals through breeding and species management programs. Have your photo taken with a range of quirky, scary, and iconic threatened and endangered species and find out how you can help to save them!

Review of Charleville Bilby Experience 2010

Hello from the Save the Bilby Fund in Charleville. We are preparing for the tourist season in 2011 and to reveal once again how endearing these native animals are. While doing this we look back on 2010 and the generosity of the visitors to the bilby show, the funny things that happened and wonder how we can improve the show. Of course we do not have to change the bilbies. They are delightful and once seen, do more for their cause than all the gifted speakers working on their behalf.  

Between April and October, 2010, we put on 198 bilby shows and 4771 people watched and politely listened. They heard a talk on the characteristics of the bilby with the help of a toy bilby (also endearing with the ability to remain still), and watched a DVD on the history of the efforts of Peter MacRae and Frank Manthey and many generous people to help save and also improve the national recognition of the bilby. Then a short walk, led by the show presenter with a torch, to the outdoor enclosure where 8 female bilbies revelled in the cool nights. 

They ran as if there were no walls surrounding them, being expert through knowledge of their confines, at swerving at the right times. In the natural habitat of south western Queensland, how grand it must have been to have many bilbies running, recognising boundaries that were invisible, but to their keen sense of smell as well defined as a wall bordering their territory. Back in the enclosure, they would stop to lift the lid of their food tin, their long noses and heads disappearing for the serious business of eating. With the tink of the lid dropping, the bilbies would reappear with cheeks bulging. Another pause in their activity would happen beside the fence next to the visitors. The bilbies would stand on their hind legs, sniffing the air - their acknowledgment of the presence of another species. 

Sometimes it wasn’t all bilby, as the shaded outline of a possum would walk along the fences or look down from a tree. Green frogs rested on the glass doors or jumped away from the threat of a footfall.   

It was always difficult to leave off watching the bilbies, but eventually the visitors would visit the little bilby shop where all proceeds are for the protection and return of the bilby to the wild. 

There was quite often lively debate about feral cats, Easter and the visit by the bilby rather than the hordes of rabbits and of course what the politicians can and will not do. But always, it was heart warming as many visitors explained how they were helping the environment, (good for everyone, including the bilby), and would then ask what more they could do. 

National Bilby Day fell on Sunday, 12th September. A fun run and walk was held with great success in running achievement as well as the fun. For the slower, there was a walk through a small area of bush where feral cats, (cleverly made by the primary school students at Charleville State School), were hiding, awaiting their chance at a passing bird or bilby. Keen eyes found them before any damage could be done. 

It is with big and generous hearts that many people are trying to save so much of our world that is in trouble. And it is with gratitude and many thanks we accepted the donations to help save the bilby. The present of a tapestry to raffle, the children from the Wombat room at Condobolin Pre School in NSW, the Wewak Street School also in NSW, the Swann River Trust from WA and Joshua, an 8 year old conservation enthusiast from NSW all contributed. With their keen interest and concern, they also encouraged us at Save the Bilby. 

Accompanied by a donation, a letter from Prep D at Toowoomba East State School was addressed to the ‘People Who Save the Bilbies’. Fortunately, it is not only the people at Save the Bilby who try to do so. It is the Prep D students and the many others who give of their time, their hard sought money and their talents.  

Volunteers from Charleville are still the core of the bilby shows and many, many thanks to them all.  There are so few bilbies, but they are so very special. Come and visit Charleville in the 2011 season and see for yourselves.

Enjoy the Charleville Bilby Experience!   Shows are conducted  between April and October on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday nights.  Bookings are essential and can be made through the Charleville Visitor Information Centre:

Qantas Drive
Charleville, Q, 4470
Ph: (07) 4654 3057
Fax: (07) 4654 7772
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

A Great Offer!

Buy your Dreamworld tickets by clicking on this link and 10% of the ticket sales will be donated to Save the Bilby Fund.   

Help us save the Bilby

Save the Bilby Fund was set up by conservationists Frank Manthey and Peter McRae to raise money to help put a stop to the steady decline of this delightful marsupial. See about us  to find out about these dedicated and energetic campaigners and some of their current projects.

Bilbies, or rabbit-eared bandicoots, were common in many different habitats throughout Australia until European settlement. Hunting by dingoes, foxes and feral cats has meant that bilby populations now only occur in the isolated arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.

Save the Bilby Fund supports the three main aims of the National Recovery Plan for bilbies: 

• to support research into the biology and ecology of the species to identify the reasons for population and distribution decline
• to direct management efforts towards addressing threatening processes
• to re-establish populations, based on the biological knowledge gained through the research.

YouTube Bilbies

The Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australasia has created a fabulous clip to help us promote chocolate bilbies at Easter.    Click here to see how quickly bilbies can multiply with your help!  Spread the word by sharing this with your family and friends!  Remember to buy your chocolate Easter bilbies from Darrell Lea because a percentage of every sale is donated to Save the Bilby Fund to help us with our conservation work.

We need your support

You can help us save the bilby by contributing to the fund  or by buying some of the charming bilby merchandise available through this site. Your support is crucial to the success of the fund, and to the protection of this endangered Australian native.

Save the Bilby Fund
ABN 4311 2980 373