Bilbies The Builder! Stuart Dawson at Murdoch University in Australia and his colleagues mounted cameras near the burrows of greater bilbies (Macrotis lagotis), whose long ears have earned them the nickname ‘Australia’s Easter bunnies’. The team catalogued at least 45 species that spent time either in the burrow or at its entrance.
After a wildfire, animals such as the dwarf bearded dragon (Pogona minor) were observed at burrows more often than before the fire.The authors say that bilby burrows and their entrances can be an important source of shelter in arid regions, especially after wildfires, which rob small animals of a safe refuge by destroying plant cover. The ongoing decline in the bilby population is therefore threatening a broad range of species with the loss of essential sanctuary.
