Steve Parish Publishing

Aussie Icons Join Forces to Create a New Dawn for the Bilby

Friday 13 March might have been called black Friday, but it was far from a black day for Australia’s fluffy little Easter mascot. Larrikin Aussie legends Dawn Fraser and Steve Parish, along with Frank “The Bilby Man” Manthey, joined forces to brighten the prospects of a rapidly vanishing species, the endangered Greater Bilby. Dawn Fraser, multiple Olympic and Commonwealth Games Gold Medal winner and a longtime supporter of the Save the Bilby Fund, read to students of Hillcrest Christian College from Steve Parish’s new book Bilby and Friends, while Frank Manthey, cofounder of the not-for-profit Save the Bilby Fund, brought along a live bilby to help teach the children about this amazing little animal.
 
“For many of these kids, this was the first, and possibly only, time they’ll have the chance to see a bilby up close,” enthused award-winning wildlife photographer and Order of Australia recipient Steve Parish, who presented a signed copy of the book to the school. “This is a really gorgeous, incredible little desert mammal, so it’s vital that we educate kids about it in order to save it. That’s also why 50 cents out of the sale of each book is going to the Save the Bilby Fund. Frank’s doing a fantastic job helping inform people of the bilby’s plight and encouraging kids, like these, to help save it. I think its great to see legendary Australians like Dawn Fraser standing up, too, and saying ‘We’ve got to help out wildlife’, and I’d love to see more of it.”
 
Bilbies were common in various Australian habitats before European settlement, when hunting by dingoes, foxes and feral cats, and competition with introduced rabbits, reduced their range to isolated arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The Save the Bilby Fund was established to support research into the biology and ecology of the species, to research population and distribution decline, and to address threats to bilby survival. The fund is currently working towards re-establishing populations of bilbies into places within their former range, based on biological knowledge gained through research.
 
Bilby and Friends, written by Kerry Kitzelman, is an engaging, conservation-themed children’s storybook that aims to amuse and educate kids while introducing them to delightful Aussie animal characters. It is available online from www.steveparish.com.au from 16 March and a proportion of the sale price of every book goes to the Save the Bilby Fund to support Greater Bilby conservation. This Easter, buy your loved ones a gift with a difference — and help make a difference by playing a part in reintroducing bilbies to the wild.

Authored by: karin cox