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Easter Bilby

A bilby made of chocolate with other bilbies printed on a mug

The Easter Bilby is an Australian alternative to the Easter Bunny and chocolate bunnies. Bilbies are native Australian marsupials that are endangered. To raise money and increase awareness of conservation efforts, bilby-shaped chocolates and related merchandise are sold within many stores throughout Australia as an alternative to Easter bunnies.[1]

Concept and stories

A greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis)

The Easter Bilby concept emerged a number of times in the mid-late 1900s. In March 1968 a 9-year-old girl, Rose-Marie Dusting, wrote a story, "Billy the Aussie Easter Bilby", which was published in 1997.[2] The story helped catalyse the public's interest in saving the bilby.[3] The tradition of Easter Bilby providing easter eggs began in the Hawthorn Junior Field Naturalists Club between 1976 and 1983 thanks to Malcolm Turner, while Tony Robinson, of the South Australian National Parks Service, has also been credited with suggesting Easter Bilby as a substitute for Easter Bunny around 1980.[4] In 1991, Nicholas Newland from the 'Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia' also promoted the idea of the Easter Bilby to raise awareness about the environmental damage that feral rabbits cause and to replace the Easter Bunny with true native wildlife.[5]

In 1993, Australian children's author Jeni Bright wrote the story Burra Nimu, the Easter Bilby. It tells how Burra, a shy but brave little bilby, decides to save the land from the rabbits and foxes who are ruining it. It is illustrated by Australian illustrator Janet Selby.[6]

Australian children's book author and illustrator Irena Sibley produced three Easter Bilby books between 1994 and 2000 including the best selling The Bilbies' First Easter, published by Silver Gum Press in 1994.

In 1994 Ali Garnett and Kaye Kessing produced the ‘Easter Bilby’ children’s book with the support of Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia and the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Heritage. It was followed by the ‘Easter Bilby Action Pack’ in 1995, and ‘Easter Bilby’s Secret’ in 1999. A related Easter Bilby pantomime was also produced and performed in several capital cities around Australia.

In 2024 Banjo Frog's Concert Spectacular by Kristin Martin and Bianca Richardson was published as a successor to Ali Garnett and Kaye Kessing's Easter Bilby books with support from the Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia. This picture book highlights the issues caused by rabbits in Australia, with Easter Bilby as a hero recruiting children to help save the native animals.

Chocolate bilbies

The first chocolate Easter Bilbies were sold at the Warrawong Sanctuary when it was owned by John Wamsley, and were produced by Melba Chocolates in Woodside. Walmsley had successfully bred bilbies at the sanctuary.[7]

Chocolate manufacturers that donate towards bilby conservation include Pink Lady and Haigh's Chocolates. In 2014, Pink Lady donated 30 cents from every large bilby sale and $1 from every 10 pack. Parent company Fyna Foods manufactures chocolate bilbies as well as other iconic Australian fauna in their Australian Bush Friends Easter chocolate.[8] 20 cents from every Bush Friends collection is donated to the Save the Bilby Fund. 2015 saw these chocolates raise over $33,000 to the fund.

In 2003, funds from the sale of chocolate bilbies were used to build a 20 km (10 mile) long predator-proof fence in Currawinya National Park.[9]

Darrell Lea began selling chocolate bilbies in 1999.[10] As of 2009, sales of Darrell Lea's bilbies were about the same as their sales of bunnies.[11] From 1999 to 2008, Darrell Lea raised $300,000 towards the Save the Bilby Fund.[10] Prior to their store closures in 2012, Darrell Lea donated approximately $60,000 per year to the Save the Bilby Fund from the sales of the Darrell Lea chocolate bilbies.

For three years prior to 2018, Cadbury donated $10,000 per year to the Save the Bilby Fund, although they were not an official partner. As of 2018, the Cadbury bilbies were discontinued, resulting in major supermarkets Coles and Woolworths not stocking any chocolate bilbies.[12]

As of 2017, consumers were urged to buy chocolate bilbies with a green tag, signifying that the sale raises funds for the bilby.[13] Nevertheless, research has shown that throughout the last decade the concept of the Easter bilby has seen decreased interest in Australia, as shown by online searches and mentions in major newspapers.[10] This, coupled with changes in the Australian chocolate industry, including the decision of Cadbury and Darrell Lea to stop making chocolate bilbies, has meant that the Easter bilby is increasingly a niche product, removed from mainstream Australian culture.[10] In 2019, Cadbury announced it will no longer make the chocolate bilbies, and no major supermarkets carried them.[14]

In 2022, Darrell Lea started making chocolate bilbies again after an eight-year hiatus.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Greater Bilby". Australian Government. Archived from the original on 25 January 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
  2. ^ "Billy the Aussie Easter Bilby". Catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  3. ^ Zielinski, Sarah (5 April 2012). "Chocolate Bilbies, Not Bunnies, For An Australian Easter". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  4. ^ Faithfull, Ian (2000). "On the origin, history and significance of the Easter Bilby". Victorian Naturalist. 117 (2): 68–74.
  5. ^ "Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia". Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Burra Nimu, the Easter Bilby". Burra Nimu, the Easter Bilby. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. ^ Bulbeck, Chilla (25 June 2012). Facing the Wild: Ecotourism, Conservation and Animal Encounters. Routledge. ISBN 9781136548109.
  8. ^ "Bilby Update: 2016 in review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Wild about bilbies and a rabbit-proof Easter". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 April 2003. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d Veríssimo, Diogo (December 2017). "The Easter Bilby as a counter-marketing strategy for biodiversity conservation". Revista de Gestão Dos Países de Língua Portuguesa. 16 (3): 59–72. ISSN 1645-4464. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  11. ^ Murray, Elicia (9 April 2009). "Bilby fatigue as rabbits win the Easter chocolate war". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  12. ^ "This is why you're having trouble finding chocolate bilbies this Easter". Australian Geographic. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  13. ^ Caldwell, Felicity (15 April 2017). "Queenslanders urged to buy Easter bilbies but beware of the fakes". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Where are all the chocolate bilbies this year?". Australian Geographic. 15 April 2019. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  15. ^ Leake, Jennifer (7 April 2023). "Bunny vs bilby: Who will you back this Easter?". ABC News. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
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