Bilby
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ID#13
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Classification: Mammal
Endangered Status: Vulnerable Habitat: Desert, Grasslands, mulga scrub Life span: 3-5 years The Bilby is 29-55 cm in length and weighs about 800-2500 grams. Bilbies have blue-gray fur and have long rabbit like ears. Bilbies have long tails. Their tail is usually 20-29 cm long. The Bilby’s tail is black with a white tip. They have a pink nose and pitch black eyes. They have very boney legs and paws. Bilbies are the size of a rabbit or big mouse. Bilbies are also marsupials. Female bilbies have a pouch in the back of them to let their young develop. A bilby’s pouch is in its back so it doesn’t fill up with dirt while digging. Bilbies, for the main part are solitary animals; they live in families up to four after they mate. Bilbies are nocturnal, meaning they sleep during the day and are active at night. They burrow into the ground for shelter, protection, and warmth. They burrow to a depth of almost two meters. Only one bilby sleeps in the a burrow, usually staying in its burrow the whole day, only to venture out at night. Bilbies are omnivores. They eat seeds, insects, bulbs, fruit and some fungi. They get most of their food by digging in the ground. Their big ears can hear pray really well and their long tongues help them catch and eat their food. Bilbies reproduce yearly and usually have two babies in a litter. Their gestation period is only two weeks. At the end of gestation the babies are only about ¼ inches long. After being born, they crawl into their mother’s pouch. They are tightly enclosed in their mother’s pouchfor 70-80 days. Some interesting facts about a bilby are that they don’t need water to survive, because they get all the water they need from their food. Bilbies are marsupials; most marsupials have a pouch on their belly. Bilbies however, have a pouch on their back so that it doesn’t fill with all the dirt they dig. In the wild bilbies are being hunted by cats and foxes and because of that they have the conservation status of vulnerable. |