The Easter Bilby is an Australian alternative to the

Easter Bunny The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" orig ...

Origin

Bilbies are

native Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

s that are endangered. To raise

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

and increase awareness of conservation efforts, bilby-shaped chocolates and related merchandise are sold within many stores throughout Australia as an alternative to

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

bunnies. The first documented use of the Easter Bilby concept was in March 1968 when a 9-year-old girl Rose-Marie Dusting, wrote a story, " Billy The Aussie Easter Bilby," which she published as a book 11 years later. The story helped catalyse the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

's interest in saving the bilby. In 1991, Nicholas Newland from the ' Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia' also developed the idea of the

Bilby to raise awareness about the environmental damage that

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

rabbits Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit specie ...

cause and to replace the

Easter bunny The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" orig ...

with true native wildlife. The first Chocolate Easter Bilbies were sold at the Warrawong Sanctuary when it was owned by

John Wamsley Dr John Wamsley (born 1938) is an Australian environmentalist. He was the Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year for 2003. Wamsley is known for his attempt to set up a network of wildlife sanctuaries across Australia. Wamsley was born ...

History

Chocolate manufacturers that donate towards bilby conservation include Pink Lady and

Haigh's Chocolates Haigh's Chocolates is an Australian family owned bean-to-bar chocolate making company based in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded in 1915 by Alfred E. Haigh and now has retail outlets in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. History Alfred E. H ...

. 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. 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. 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. , the Cadbury bilbies were discontinued, resulting in major supermarkets Coles and Woolworths not stocking any chocolate bilbies. Darrell Lea began selling chocolate bilbies in 1999. As of 2009, sales of Darrell Lea's bilbies were about the same as their sales of bunnies. From 1999 to 2008, Darrell Lea raised $300,000 towards the Save the Bilby Fund. 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. Australian children's book author and illustrator

Irena Sibley Irena Sibley (16 June 1943 – 29 March 2009), born Irena Justina Pauliukonis, was an Australian artist, writer, illustrator of children's books, and art teacher. Personal life Her mother Anele and father Zenonas Pauliukonis fled communist-o ...

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 1993, Australian children's author Jeni Bright wrote the story of "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. Burra and his family and friends gather together for a wonderful time painting Easter eggs to give to the children and ask for their help. But before they can set off on their journey to the children, they must outwit the rabbit army. As well as the story of the Easter Bilby, the not-for-profit websit
'Burra Nimu, the Easter Bilby'
contains factual information about bilbies and other endangered Australian species. It is illustrated by Australian illustrator Janet Selby. 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 Currawinya is a national park near Hungerford in South West Queensland, Australia, 828 km west of Brisbane. Part of the mulga lands bioregion this is an area of dry sandy plain with small trees and shrubs. The Paroo River passes through the ...

. , consumers were urged to buy chocolate bilbies with a green tag, signifying that the sale raises funds for the bilby. 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. 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. In 2019, Cadbury announced it will no longer make the chocolate bilbies, and no major supermarkets carried them.

References

{{Easter 1968 introductions Holiday characters Fictional marsupials Australian folklore Peramelemorphs Australian inventions Easter Bunny Australian confectionery

Origin

History

See also

References