{"id":852537,"date":"2026-08-10T03:48:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T03:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852537\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T03:48:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T03:48:28","slug":"150-bilbies-released-in-queensland-national-park-where-they-were-once-extinct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852537\/","title":{"rendered":"150 bilbies released in Queensland national park where they were once extinct"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the middle of the night in western Queensland, Save the Bilby Fund CEO Kev Bradley is nervous and excited opening a small hessian bag to allow a bilby to gently bounce out.<\/p>\n

“You’ve got a lump in your throat. It’s pretty rough in the bush. But it takes my breath away,” he said.<\/p>\n

Wild bilbies were last seen in Currawinya National Park in the 1970s before going locally extinct.<\/p>\n

After a decade of preparation, conservationists have spent the past six nights releasing 150 bilbies into the park.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

About 20 volunteers spent six nights releasing 150 bilbies into the wild. (Supplied: Save the Bilby Fund)<\/p>\n

It is the first time in Queensland bilbies have been re-introduced back into the wild in an area where they were previously locally extinct.<\/p>\n

“It’s fantastic to see,” Mr Bradley said.<\/p>\n

Decades eradicating predators\"A<\/p>\n

The predator-proof fence has been in place since 2003. (Supplied: Save the Bilby Fund)<\/p>\n

A 25-kilometre predator-proof fence was installed in the park in 2003 but failed in 2010 when feral cats breached the barrier.<\/p>\n

Inside the fence, Mr Bradley said the bilby population was thriving, with as many as 1,000 bilbies, based off last year’s estimates.<\/p>\n

“With the conditions we’ve got at the moment, it’s sort of perfect timing for us to get bilbies back into the true wild,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want our native species to only exist behind closed fences these days.”<\/p>\n

Since 2021, a few of the bilbies released inside the fence have escaped and set up life outside.<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

The bilby population inside the fence has been flourishing. (Supplied: Save the Bilby Fund)<\/p>\n

“We never designed the fence to keep bilbies in. It was designed to keep predators out,” Mr Bradley said.<\/p>\n

That outside population is also thriving, Mr Bradley said. But it does not make re-introducing the bilbies less stressful.<\/p>\n

“Bilbies are boom-bust animals,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re at a heightened situation in high-rainfall areas, but we know there’s a dry coming.”<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

Mr Bradley says the bilbies released into the wild are extremely healthy. (Supplied: Save the Bilby Fund)<\/p>\n

‘Beware of bilby crossing’<\/p>\n

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Threatened Species Operations conservation officer Steve Peck said researchers will track the new population using cameras, tracking devices and burrow counts.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Steve Peck looks forward to the day bilbies freely roam the landscape. (Supplied: Save the Bilby Fund)<\/p>\n

Mr Peck said there was only one wild population of bilbies in Queensland about a decade ago, but he is hopeful this will be the start of a new booming population.<\/p>\n

“The ultimate aim is to have a tourist be able to come to Currawinya and see a bilby bouncing around,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We look forward to the time when we have to put up a sign that says: ‘Beware of Bilby Crossing’.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the middle of the night in western Queensland, Save the Bilby Fund CEO Kev Bradley is nervous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[265685,296490,49,48,296491,295,259233,296492,278403,296493,296495,66,296494],"class_list":["post-852537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-bilbies","tag-bilby","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-currawinya-national-park","tag-environment","tag-feral-cat","tag-kev-bradley","tag-north-queensland","tag-queensland-parks-and-wildlife-service","tag-save-the-bilby-fund","tag-science","tag-steve-peck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}