The first Faberge egg was produced as a gift for a member of the Russian royal family. The rascally rabbit versus endangered bilby For obvious reasons the rabbit was also a symbol of fertility and fecundity and became associated with festivals dedicated to celebrating the arrival of Spring. In Australia the rabbit is a pest, and celebrating it in any form denies the reality of Australia's rabbit plague and the damage rabbits do to Australia's fragile environment . The bilby is a cute-looking creature with big eyes, big ears and a long tail and is a member of the bandicoot family. The sale of the products was to fund research into wildlife conservation - an issue of importance to the bilby.
Bilbies are endangered - largely because of competition from rabbits and loss of habitat.
So instead of an Easter bunny delivering Easter eggs, they are now often delivered by a bilby, and Australian shops stock chocolate bilbies alongside chocolate eggs and rabbits.