VILLAGE PUMP
The Samford Progress Association’s free community newspaper printed continuously since 1977.
The
@TheVillagePumpSamford
“Your Community Newspaper, owned by the Samford Community and produced for the benefit of the Samford Community.” 15 APRIL, 2022
P: 0477 663 696
E: editor@villagepump.org.au NEXT DEADLINE THURSDAY 21/04/2022
THIS EASTER, THANK THE BILBY This time of the year is synonymous with a long-eared, pointy-nosed creature delivering chocolate eggs for kids to wake up to. This is the magic of the Easter Bilby, and just like the native animal, the chocolate version is making a comeback from the brink of extinction. While traditional bunnies have no trouble propagating the countryside, the native bilby remains endangered due to predation by feral cats and foxes, plus the invasion of rabbits, not all Easter-related ones. For many years there were no records of greater bilbies in Queensland, and some thought that the species was extinct here. In 1988 though, Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service rediscovered the greater bilby which today is found in several locations out west. It was here that the Save The Bilby Fund opened a Bilby Sanctuary in 2003, surrounded by an electrified predatorexclusion fence. This has allowed a bilby breeding program to flourish. Despite their endangered nature, bilbies are a fast breeding animal if given the chance to do so.
From generous donations, the small but dedicated team behind the Save the Bilby Fund continues to upgrade captive breeding facilities and provide an environment that trains bilbies for release. Historically, it wasn’t only the real bilby on the endangered species list, but their Easter chocolate cousins as well. For three years Cadbury manufactured a chocolate Easter Bilby, donating $10,000 each year to the Save the Bilby Fund, but announced it would no longer make chocolate bilbies in 2019. Darrell Lea started selling its chocolate bilbies back in 1999, and prior to the company’s 2012 store closures, it donated approximately $60,000 each year to the Save
the Bilby Fund from chocolate bilby sales. Just as the real bilby’s numbers are slowly on the rise, so too are choc-bilbies. This year, Darrell Lea has stocked supermarkets with a limited number of its chocolate bilbies, donating 20 cents from each sale to the fund, furthering the charity’s mission to introduce 10,000 bilbies into the population by 2030. Locally, the Bunyaville Environmental Education Centre is running half-day Easter Bilby Adventures for local prep and year 1 students. Participating kids learn about problem solving and Australia’s native animals through an Easter Bilby story, before taking their newfound knowledge and sense of adventure into the bush. When it comes to finding colourful eggs under the BBQ this year, we now know exactly which mythical creature is responsible, and what we can do to ensure it actually doesn’t become a mythical creature in the future. Tanya Hall
Shop local at the Lifestyle Centre Plant Nursery • Cafe • Gifts & Homewares • City Chicks Yarn Shop • Health & Beauty Services ... and even more! Find more info & open hours at www.lifestylecentre.co
225 Mt Glorious Rd, Samford
ph. 3289 6276
