Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00432:reg:3:p3
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00432
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 3/14)
Character Range: 26121–28992

actions outlined in this recovery plan. The membership of this recovery team and associated subcommittees draws from a wide variety of individuals and organisations relevant to the conservation of the Greater Bilby, such as the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (Commonwealth) (DCCEEW), the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions (WA) (DBCA), the Department for Environment and Water (SA) (DEW), the Department of Environment and Science (Qld) (DES), the Department of Planning and Environment (NSW) (DPE), the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security (NT) (DEPWS), Save the Bilby Fund (STBF), Indigenous rangers, Northern Land Council (NLC), Central Land Council (CLC), Kimberley Land Council (KLC) Desert Wildlife Services (DWS), Ecological Horizons (EH), Arid Recovery (AR), Rangelands NRM, Envisage Environmental Services, Southern Queensland Landscapes, Territory NRM, Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), Bush Heritage Australia (BHA), Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA), independent researchers, zoos representatives, community groups and landholders. Membership of the Recovery Team changes over time to reflect its changing role and tasks as conservation progresses.

3.5                 Species description and ecology
The Greater Bilby is endemic to Australia and is an iconic species to many Australians. With the extinction of the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) in the 1960s, it is the only surviving member of the family Thylacomyidae (Jackson & Groves 2015).
The Greater Bilby is a medium-sized burrowing marsupial with long, soft, blue-grey fur over most of the body but white to cream fur on its underside. It has large ears, a long, pointed snout with slit-like nostrils and a crested tail, white fur for the terminal half and black for the remainder. The forelimbs have three stoutly clawed toes that enable bilbies to burrow effectively, and two un-clawed toes. The hind limbs are slender and each has four toes.
Male bilbies can grow to 550 mm head-body length, with a tail up to 290 mm, and can reach a weight of 2500 g. Females are smaller and can grow to 390 mm head-body length with a tail up to 278 mm, and reach a weight of 1100 g (Johnson 2008). Breeding varies, depending on seasonal conditions and food availability, with litters mostly of one or two, but sometimes three (McCracken 1990). The gestation period is around 12–14 days. Pouch life is about 75–80 days, with females tending their young in a burrow for another two weeks (Southgate et al. 2005). Bilbies can live up to 11 years in captivity, however most animals are unlikely to survive that long in the wild (Southgate et al. 2005). Females start breeding at five months and males at eight months. Generation time is assumed to be less than two years (Southgate pers. comm. 2019) or four years (Woinarski et al. 2014).