Animal Encounters
Get up close with your favourite Zoo residents in Sydney and Dubbo.
Discover Dubbo
Discover Sydney
Greater Bilby
Scientific nameMacrotis lagotis
Conservation status (IUCN)
Vulnerable
Bilbies (bilbi in Wiradjuri First Language) are the largest species in the bandicoot family and have beautiful fluffy, silky grey fur and a long snout with a slender tongue.
Sydney
Visitor tips for Sydney
See our group of Bilbies at nguwing nura.
Good times to visit
10:30am - 2:30pm
Fun facts about Greater Bilbies
Where they're found
They're found in the Tanami desert in the Northern Territory, the Great Sandy Desert, Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia.
10yrs
They live between 5-6 years in the wild and up to 10 years in human care.
What they eat
They're omnivores - they eat bulbs, seeds, fungi, insects & small lizards.
55cm
They can be up to 55cm tall.
Where they live
Arid rocky soils with little ground cover to semi-arid scrublands and woodlands
2.5kg
They're small! They only weigh around 2.5kg.
12-16 days
Their gestation is only 12-16 days. That's like being pregnant for 2 weeks!
Where they're found
They're found in the Tanami desert in the Northern Territory, the Great Sandy Desert, Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia.
10yrs
They live between 5-6 years in the wild and up to 10 years in human care.
What they eat
They're omnivores - they eat bulbs, seeds, fungi, insects & small lizards.
55cm
They can be up to 55cm tall.
Where they live
Arid rocky soils with little ground cover to semi-arid scrublands and woodlands
2.5kg
They're small! They only weigh around 2.5kg.
12-16 days
Their gestation is only 12-16 days. That's like being pregnant for 2 weeks!
Did you know?
We bet you didn't know these facts about the Greater Bilby.
Tap the icons
Scroll across to reveal Bilby facts.
Great big Bilby
Bilbies are the largest species in the bandicoot family.
Have you heard?
They've got long ears! Their ears let heat escape, and give them amazing hearing.
A backwards pouch
Bilbies have a backwards pouch so that when they dig, they don’t get sand in it.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Vulnerable
Saving bilbies
We are committed to returning bilbies to NSW and supporting their recovery nationally. Their future is looking brighter thanks to the establishment of a free ranging population of bilbies within a 110ha feral predator free Sanctuary at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.
In 2020, ten bilbies bred in Dubbo were released into Sturt National Park in north-eastern NSW as part of the UNSW Wild Deserts program. This reintroduction comes more than 100 years after the bilby was declared extinct in NSW. This population has boomed to 60 individuals as of early 2022. In June 2022, 32 bilbies were translocated from the Taronga Western Plains Zoo Sanctuary into the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary in Central NT.
Taronga is continuing to breed bilbies in our Sanctuary to support reintroduction and conservation efforts across Australia.
In 2020, ten bilbies bred in Dubbo were released into Sturt National Park in north-eastern NSW as part of the UNSW Wild Deserts program. This reintroduction comes more than 100 years after the bilby was declared extinct in NSW. This population has boomed to 60 individuals as of early 2022. In June 2022, 32 bilbies were translocated from the Taronga Western Plains Zoo Sanctuary into the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary in Central NT.
Taronga is continuing to breed bilbies in our Sanctuary to support reintroduction and conservation efforts across Australia.
Species management programs
Taronga contributes to an Australasian Species Management Program and/or international breeding program for this species. This helps maintain healthy and resilient zoo-based animal populations by preserving genetic diversity, supporting animal husbandry knowledge, and ensuring exceptional animal welfare, safeguarding the species for the future.
Conservation stats
The Taronga Sanctuary at Taronga Western Plains Zoo is an open space for bilbies to thrive and exhibit natural behaviours.
120+
bilbies flourishing in Taronga Western Plains Zoo's Sanctuary.
10
bilbies bred at Taronga released into the Sturt National Park in 2020.
32
bilbies translocated into the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Nehaven Wildlife Sanctuary in Central Northern Territory.
120+
bilbies flourishing in Taronga Western Plains Zoo's Sanctuary.
10
bilbies bred at Taronga released into the Sturt National Park in 2020.
32
bilbies translocated into the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Nehaven Wildlife Sanctuary in Central Northern Territory.
Greater Bilby deep dive
With such a delicate appearance one is led to wonder how such an animal could ever survive such harsh desert conditions! They keep cool in the hot Australian summer by using their strong claws to dig cool burrows underground. These burrows are generally spiral and as much as 3 meters long and 1.8m deep.
Their large, hairless ears let heat from their body escape and they emerge to find food in the cool of the night. They have amazing smell and hearing which is important for finding food and detecting predators from far away. Their ears are exceptionally maneuverable and can be rotated, made to stand flat against the body, positioned at right angles to the body and can even be folded in half.
Bilbies are marsupials, meaning they give birth to live young at a very early stage of their development and the young develop while attached to a teat in a pouch on the outside of the females' body. Bilbies are even more unusual because they have a backwards facing pouch! This is a very useful adaptation because it means that when a female is digging away at the soil to hunt for food or build a burrow, the soil does not fill up in the pouch.
Bilbies are a very important ‘ecological engineers’ in the iconic Australian bush. They create disturbances in the form of nose pokes, scratching, shallow and deep digs, long bull-dozing tracts and complex subterranean burrows. They might be small, but these mammals punch above their weight, shifting up to 3.6 tonnes of soil per kilogram of body mass in a year! In doing this, they improve the soil health by turning over and mixing organic matter. Soil turnover brings deep soils and their nutrients to the surface. Their diggings also trap organic matter and other materials, increasing nutrient availability to the plants.
The main threats to their survival are loss of habitat, competition with introduced species and predation, particularly by cats and foxes. Rabbits, cattle and other hoofed mammals compete with bilbies for food and habitat, as agricultural activities now extend over most of Australia’s fertile regions, with tree clearing, crop planting and domestic stock grazing making these areas unsuitable for bilbies.
Adopt a Bilby
Adopting a Greater Bilby helps protect this endangered Australian icon and supports vital conservation work.
Fact sheets for kids
Discover educational resources for kindergarten to year 6.
More to explore
Adopt an Animal
Become a Zoo Parent and make your contribution to precious wildlife.
Wildlife Conservation
Learn about Taronga's Conservation Programs.
