It's National Bilby Day in Australia

Back in the 20s and 30s they could still be found in Western NSW and were even kept as pets but no one thought to try and breed them in captivity until they became endangered.

The Save the Bilby Fund are promoting Sunday September 14 as National Bilby Day.

These delightful furry Australians now have a special day of their own, NATIONAL BILBY DAY was officially launched in 2005 and the celebrations are held on the second Sunday of September annually. The National Bilby Day Celebration will be held in Charleville, South West Queensland and will capture the REAL BUSH and CONSERVATION flavour. With a very exiting and interesting program for all young and young at heart to enjoy. 

A sneak peak of a few things that  National Bilby Day weekend will have install includes a variety of food stalls, markets, Guest speakers, live Bilbies on display, fireworks, cold drinks at the bar and not to forget the now famous “Bilby Brothers”, Frank Manthey and Peter McRae. What a great day to celebrate the survival of the Bilby and its roll as the Ambassador for other less well known endangered Australian species.

Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia and closely related to the bandicoots. Before European colonisation of Australia there were two species. One became extinct in the 1950s, the other survives but remains endangered.

The term bilby is a loan word from the Yuwaalaraay Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales, meaning long-nosed rat. It is known as dalgite in Western Australia and the nickname pinkie is sometimes used in South Australia[1]. The Wiradjuri of New South Wales also call it bilby[2].