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Greater Bilby (Macrotis lagotis)

The greater bilby is a solitary, nocturnal, burrowing marsupial of arid and semi-arid Australia. It is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act, and clearing, road construction, changed fire regimes, introduced predators and grazing can remove habitat, expose animals and reduce access to food and burrows on development sites.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Vulnerable.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Endangered.

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Vulnerable.

Western Australia, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Northern Territory, Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

Greater bilbies are not migratory and can breed whenever seasonal conditions provide enough food. The pattern below is a practical summary for field planning across the species' range, not a fixed calendar for every population.

Before clearing, treat all suspected burrows and associated diggings as potentially occupied until assessed by a suitably qualified person under the relevant approval and animal welfare requirements.

  • Breeding: Breeding can occur at any time of year when conditions and food availability are suitable. March to May is reported as the usual breeding period in one source.
  • Young: Litters usually contain one or two young. Young remain in the pouch for about 75 to 80 days and are tended in a burrow for about another two weeks. Young can therefore be present in burrows throughout the year.
  • Local movement and foraging: The species is nocturnal and non-migratory. Individuals move between multiple burrows and feeding areas within their home ranges throughout the year. Males generally range farther than females.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing can damage burrows, feeding areas and movement routes at any time. Risk is highest during the reported March to May breeding period and whenever dependent young are in burrows, but breeding and young are possible year round.

Identification

Greater bilbies are medium-sized marsupials with a distinctive combination of very large ears, a long pointed snout, silky blue-grey fur and a black and white tail. They are most often detected indirectly through burrows and feeding diggings because they are nocturnal and solitary.

The body is covered in long, soft blue-grey fur, with white to cream fur on the underside. The ears are large, rabbit-like and usually pinkish. The snout is long and pointed, the nose is relatively hairless, and the tail is blue-grey near the body, black through the middle and white at the tip. The forelimbs are strong, with three stoutly clawed toes and two clawless toes adapted for digging. The hind limbs are slender.

Adult body length: Males 30 to 55 cm; females 29 to 39 cm.

Tail length: Males 20 to 29 cm; females 20 to 28 cm.

Adult weight: Males 800 to 2,500 g; females 600 to 1,100 g.

Identification: Distinguishing features

The combination of very large ears, a long pointed snout, silky blue-grey fur, strong digging forelimbs and a black and white tail separates a greater bilby from most other Australian bandicoots. Bilbies are also larger and more strongly adapted for burrowing than typical bandicoots. The lesser bilby, Macrotis leucura, was the other Australian bilby species but is considered extinct, so it is not a likely live comparison on a project site.

Males are substantially heavier than females and generally range more widely. Sex cannot be confirmed reliably from a distant observation based only on body size, so handling or close diagnostic examination should be undertaken only by appropriately authorised personnel.

Identification: Field signs

Foraging diggings are usually conical holes made as the animal searches for underground food. Bilby feeding grounds may contain holes 10 to 25 cm deep. Diggings alone are not sufficient for confident identification where rabbits or other digging mammals occur, so record their size, shape, substrate, associated tracks and scats, and follow up with direct survey methods.

Burrows are long, often slightly spiral systems. Reported dimensions are up to 3 m long and up to 2 m deep, with one or more entrances. An individual may use more than a dozen burrows, and conservation studies recorded use of up to 18 burrows over several months.

Scats may contain sand and visible insect exoskeletons. No species-specific call, eyeshine or slough information is provided in the supplied sources.

Foraging hole depth: Usually reported as 10 to 25 cm.

Burrow dimensions: Up to 3 m long and up to 2 m deep.

Burrow use: More than a dozen burrows may occur within a home range; up to 18 have been recorded in use over several months.

  • Map every suspected bilby burrow and active feeding area before clearing or ground disturbance.
  • Treat a cluster of characteristic diggings near suitable burrows as a trigger for targeted confirmation rather than relying on a single sign.
  • Use direct detection methods, such as spotlighting or other approved mammal survey methods, where indirect signs cannot be identified confidently.

Distribution: Current range

The greater bilby formerly occurred across more than 70 percent of mainland Australia. Its present distribution is fragmented and has contracted to about 20 percent of its former range, with remaining wild populations concentrated in the northern and western deserts and south-west Queensland.

In Western Australia, wild populations occur in the Gibson, Little Sandy and Great Sandy Deserts, parts of the Pilbara and parts of the southern Kimberley. In the Northern Territory, the species occurs mainly in the Tanami Desert, including parts of the Tanami, southern Sturt Plateau and northern Great Sandy Desert bioregions. In Queensland, one isolated wild population occurs in the south-west, approximately between Boulia and Birdsville, in the channel country and associated Mitchell grassland areas.

Managed or translocated populations occur in South Australia and New South Wales, including fenced or predator-managed sites. These populations should not be assumed to represent naturally occurring wild distribution.

  • Western Australia: Gibson, Little Sandy and Great Sandy Deserts, the Pilbara and southern Kimberley.
  • Northern Territory: Tanami Desert, southern Sturt Plateau and northern Great Sandy Desert bioregions.
  • Queensland: south-west Queensland, including the area between Boulia and Birdsville.
  • South Australia and New South Wales: translocated populations in managed areas and fenced sanctuaries.

Distribution: Strongholds and trend

Most naturally occurring remnant populations are on Aboriginal lands. The northern and western desert populations are therefore important for both species persistence and field planning. The southern boundary of the Northern Territory distribution has shifted more than 200 km north since the 1960s.

The species has disappeared from at least 80 percent of its former range. Wild populations are continuing to decline, although predator-free islands, fenced reserves and other managed sites have supported successful translocations.

Former mainland range: More than 70 percent of Australia.

Current area of former range: About 20 percent.

Estimated mature population: Fewer than 10,000 mature individuals.

Northern Territory range shift: The southern boundary has moved more than 200 km north since the 1960s.

EPBC Act status: Vulnerable.

Habitat: Vegetation communities

Greater bilbies occupy dry, hot environments across arid and semi-arid Australia. They use several vegetation communities and landforms, provided the site retains suitable food resources, friable soil for digging and vegetation cover that reduces exposure to predators.

The three main habitat types are open tussock grassland on uplands and hills, mulga, Acacia aneura, woodland and shrubland on ridges and rises, and hummock grassland on plains, dunes and alluvial areas. Mixed shrublands, including associations with witchetty bush, Acacia kempeana, also occur in the Northern Territory range.

Bilbies may occur in arid rocky or clayey soils with little ground cover, semi-arid shrublands and woodlands, spinifex grasslands, tussock grasslands, sand plains and drainage systems.

Climate: Primarily arid and semi-arid, dry and hot environments.

Landforms: Uplands, hills, ridges, rises, dunes, sand plains, drainage systems, alluvial areas and plains.

Key vegetation types: Open tussock grassland, mulga woodland or shrubland and hummock grassland.

Habitat: Site features to retain

Important habitat features include connected patches of native grassland or shrubland, intact ground cover, productive areas with seeds and bulbs, and soil that can be excavated for burrows and feeding pits. Drainage lines and alluvial areas can be particularly important, but may also attract livestock and other herbivores.

The supplied sources do not provide a reliable elevation range or a minimum patch size for a project site. Assess habitat at the scale of connected bilby records, burrow clusters, food areas and movement routes rather than treating an isolated cleared patch as separate from surrounding habitat.

  • Avoid clearing active or potentially active burrow areas and the native vegetation surrounding them.
  • Maintain connections between occupied habitat patches where practicable.
  • Avoid concentrating stock, feral herbivores or water points near bilby habitat because grazing, soil compaction and predator activity can increase around these features.

Foraging habitat: Diet

Greater bilbies forage mostly at night by walking over the ground and digging for food. They use smell and hearing to locate prey and buried plant material, and their strong forelimbs and long sticky tongue are adapted for excavation and feeding.

The diet is omnivorous and varies with season, rainfall, substrate and food availability. Animal foods include termites, ants, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders and other insect larvae. Plant foods include seeds, bulbs, tubers, fruit and fungi. Important recorded plant foods include the bulb of Cyperus bulbosus and seeds of grasses and sedges.

Food is collected from the ground surface or excavated from soil. Bilbies can obtain sufficient moisture from food and are not dependent on drinking water in the way many introduced herbivores are.

Main animal foods: Termites, ants, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders and insect larvae.

Main plant and fungal foods: Seeds, bulbs, tubers, fruit and fungi.

Typical foraging pits: Holes about 10 to 25 cm deep may be present in feeding areas.

  • Retain native grass, spinifex, mulga and other ground vegetation that provides seeds, bulbs and invertebrate habitat.
  • Avoid disturbing areas with repeated fresh diggings, especially where diggings occur near active burrows.
  • Inspect spoil, laydown and access areas for food-bearing native vegetation and bilby diggings before excavation or vehicle access.

Foraging habitat: Foraging area

Males usually range more widely than females. Mean home ranges recorded in one study were 3.16 km² for males and 0.18 km² for females, although home range size varies substantially between locations. An individual may use many burrows while moving through its home range.

Foraging areas therefore extend beyond the immediate area around a burrow. Clearing, fencing, haul roads, lighting, traffic and soil disturbance can remove feeding sites or restrict movement between burrows and food patches.

Mean female home range: 0.18 km².

Mean male home range: 3.16 km².

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding is linked to seasonal conditions and food availability, but litters can be produced at any time of year when conditions are suitable. Females raise young in burrows and may use a burrow to shelter dependent young while they forage.

A breeding site needs a secure burrow, nearby food and enough connected habitat for the female to forage. Burrow entrances may be associated with termite mounds or tussocks, and females can cache or tend young in a burrow for about two weeks after the pouch period.

Young are born after a very short gestation and remain attached to a teat in the rear-opening pouch for about 75 to 80 days. After leaving the pouch, they remain in a burrow for approximately another two weeks before becoming independent.

Breeding season: Can occur throughout the year, with breeding often associated with seasonal conditions and food availability; March to May is reported as a usual breeding period.

Litter size: Usually 1 or 2 young, sometimes 3.

Gestation: About 12 to 14 days.

Pouch period: About 75 to 80 days.

Post-pouch care: About 2 weeks in a burrow.

Female maturity: About 5 months.

Male maturity: About 8 months.

Litter frequency: Up to 4 litters in a year under favourable conditions.

Longevity: Up to 11 years has been reported, although most wild animals are unlikely to survive that long.

  • Do not collapse, fill, trench through or drive over suspected bilby burrows.
  • Before clearing, inspect the wider area around burrows for feeding grounds and additional burrows because one animal can use many burrows.
  • If a breeding female or dependent young is suspected, stop disturbance around the burrow and obtain advice from the project ecologist and relevant wildlife authority.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Breeding habitat is not a separate vegetation community. It is occupied habitat with a usable burrow system, nearby food and sufficient cover from predators. Burrows may be reused and can be located beneath or beside tussocks, termite mounds or other stable ground features.

Sheltering habitat: Burrow systems

Burrows are the greater bilby's main refuge from heat, predators and daytime conditions. The species may use several burrows within one home range and may return to a burrow during the night.

Burrows are deep, slightly spiral tunnels that may have multiple entrances or exits. Reported burrows can be up to 3 m long and 2 m deep. Bilbies can extend a burrow when threatened, making the animal difficult for a predator to locate.

An individual may use more than a dozen burrows, with up to 18 burrows recorded in use over several months. Active and disused burrows can occur throughout the home range, so an apparently unused entrance should not be dismissed without assessment.

Burrow length: Up to 3 m.

Burrow depth: Up to 2 m.

Burrows per individual: More than a dozen may be used; up to 18 have been recorded over several months.

  • Mark burrow entrances with a buffer agreed by the project ecologist before machinery, vehicles or earthworks enter the area.
  • Do not fill, collapse, blast, trench through or use a burrow as a spoil or drainage point.
  • Search beyond the first burrow found because bilbies commonly use multiple burrows within a home range.

Sheltering habitat: Other refuge features

Ground cover from tussocks, spinifex, mulga shrubland and other native vegetation can help reduce exposure while the animal moves between burrows and foraging areas. Bilbies do not use tree hollows, nests or roosts as their main shelter.

  • Retain tussocks, spinifex hummocks, shrubs and other native ground cover around occupied burrow systems.
  • Keep temporary access tracks, lighting and night works away from burrow entrances and connected feeding habitat where practicable.
  • Include disused-looking burrows in pre-clearance mapping because burrow use can change over time.

Threats: Clearing and construction

Threat intensity varies across the range. Foxes are a greater concern in southern areas, feral cats are a major concern in Queensland and fire is a particularly significant threat in the northern range. Project works can add direct habitat loss, fragmentation, vehicle mortality and disturbance to these existing pressures.

Vegetation clearing removes food, cover and burrow habitat. Infrastructure development can also increase road mortality, restrict dispersal and gene flow, and provide food or water that raises introduced predator densities. Mining and other earthworks are specifically identified as potential threats in the greater bilby's range.

Fragmentation is a concern because bilbies use multiple burrows and may range over several square kilometres. Clearing a small work area can still affect a wider foraging route or movement connection.

  • Complete targeted pre-clearance searches for burrows, fresh diggings and scats in all suitable habitat before clearing.
  • Avoid locating camps, laydown areas, water points and waste near occupied or suitable bilby habitat.
  • Control vehicle speeds and restrict night driving in occupied habitat to reduce collision risk.
  • Keep temporary fencing, trenches and stockpiles from blocking movement between burrows and feeding areas.
  • Rehabilitate disturbed ground with appropriate native vegetation and retain soil conditions suitable for future burrowing.

Threats: Fire and grazing

Extensive, intense or too frequent fire can remove vegetation cover and food resources over large areas, increasing exposure to predators. The northern range experiences higher fire frequency, while fire is also a potential threat in the southern range.

Rabbits, livestock and other introduced herbivores reduce vegetation cover, compact soil and compete for food. Their presence can also support higher densities of foxes and feral cats, particularly around water points and drainage lines.

  • Plan firebreaks, burns and hot works to avoid extensive fire across occupied habitat.
  • Use region-specific fire management that retains a mosaic of vegetation ages and cover.
  • Prevent construction water points from becoming persistent predator or herbivore concentration sites.
  • Manage stock, rabbits and other introduced herbivores so ground cover and soil condition are maintained.

Threats: Predators, disease and hydrology

Red foxes and feral cats are major introduced predators. Fox impacts are more significant in southern areas, while feral cats are a severe threat in Queensland and occur across the species' range. Native predators may also take bilbies, but introduced predators are the main documented concern.

The supplied conservation documents identify changes in water points as a threat because additional water can increase predator and herbivore activity. They do not provide evidence that a specific change in natural groundwater or flood hydrology is a direct species-wide threat. Assess hydrology changes where they alter drainage-line habitat, food production, soil moisture or access to burrows.

The supplied government sources do not identify a named disease as a principal current threat. Contact with introduced animals and their faeces has been reported as a disease risk in the broader species literature, so avoid concentrating livestock and introduced animals around bilby habitat.

  • Keep fox and feral cat numbers low around occupied habitat, especially after wildfire and during prey population declines.
  • Secure food waste, carcasses and water infrastructure so construction does not increase predator activity.
  • Inspect drainage, culvert and floodplain works for effects on burrows, drainage-line vegetation and access to food.
  • Report unusual deaths or sick animals to the relevant wildlife authority rather than handling them unnecessarily.

Survey methodology: 1. Habitat and sign searches

Survey for Greater Bilbies must target nocturnal activity, burrows and foraging diggings in suitable arid and semi-arid habitat. Surveys should cover open tussock grassland, mulga woodland and shrubland, hummock grassland, dunes, rises, drainage systems and alluvial areas, with extra attention to areas containing fresh diggings or burrows.

Search suitable habitat during daylight before disturbance, then target any signs for nocturnal confirmation.

Record and map burrows, fresh diggings, tracks, scats, feeding pits, likely movement routes and areas of dense ground cover.

Greater Bilbies can use more than a dozen burrows within a home range. Burrows may be up to 3 metres long, and feeding pits are commonly associated with digging for termites, beetles, larvae, spiders, bulbs, seeds and fungi.

Bilby diggings can be difficult to distinguish from those of rabbits and other digging mammals. Record the size, shape, substrate, food remains and associated tracks or scats, and confirm doubtful records with a direct detection method.

Typical shelter site: Burrow, used during the day and intermittently at night

Burrow dimensions: Up to 3 metres long

Burrows used by one animal: More than a dozen may be used within its home range

  • Survey all habitat that will be cleared, excavated, driven over or used for access, laydown, stockpiles or drainage works.
  • Extend searches into retained habitat beside the disturbance footprint to identify burrows and movement routes that may be affected by the works.
  • Mark each burrow and sign location with a GPS point and a field marker that will remain visible to the project team.

Survey methodology: 2. Spotlighting

Spotlight suitable habitat after dark because Greater Bilbies are nocturnal and emerge from burrows to forage.

Walk or drive established transects through the disturbance footprint and adjacent retained habitat, checking burrow entrances, feeding areas, tracks and likely movement routes.

Use a narrow beam and minimise the time the light is directed at an animal. Use a red light or dimmer setting for prolonged observation where practicable.

Record the time, location, habitat, behaviour, direction of travel, distance from the work area and whether the animal entered a burrow.

  • Conduct spotlighting under conditions that allow safe movement and reliable detection, and avoid periods when rain, dust, high winds or other conditions prevent effective searching.
  • Repeat spotlighting where signs are fresh or where a single survey does not resolve whether a burrow is occupied.
  • Do not enter, block, collapse or probe a burrow during a survey.

Survey methodology: 3. Remote cameras and direct detection

Use motion-sensing cameras at active-looking burrows, fresh diggings, narrow movement routes and other locations where spotlighting cannot provide reliable confirmation.

Use direct observation, photographic records and other suitable direct detection methods to confirm species presence where diggings or burrows could belong to another species.

Place cameras and other equipment so that they do not obstruct burrow entrances or alter access to food and shelter.

  • Keep a record of camera locations, deployment and retrieval dates, bait or attractant used if any, operating conditions and identifiable bilby images.
  • Treat a probable record as unconfirmed until an experienced ecologist or other suitably qualified person assesses the image or sign.

Survey methodology: 4. Trapping and handling

The supplied survey guidance identifies capture as a direct detection method but does not provide a Greater Bilby-specific trap layout or trap-night requirement in the available text.

Use trapping only where it is approved, justified and conducted by appropriately authorised personnel under animal ethics and state wildlife requirements.

If trapping is required, use the current species-specific survey guidance and permit conditions for the project rather than transferring effort from another mammal species.

  • Do not trap solely to remove an animal from an area that can instead be avoided or retained.
  • Use inspection, weather, shade, shelter, heat and release procedures that protect this nocturnal, burrowing marsupial from exposure and stress.
  • Stop trapping immediately if animal welfare cannot be maintained or if a bilby is captured without the required authority.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use a stratified survey design that samples representative habitat and disturbance areas; the survey guideline describes one hectare survey sites within subject sites of up to 5 hectares as a basis for calculating effort for different area sizes.
  • Set survey effort, the number of nights, transect length, camera deployment and any trapping effort from the current Greater Bilby species profile in the survey guideline, the size of the impact area, habitat quality, recent fire history and the likelihood of detection.
  • Document survey dates, start and finish times, weather, moon or light conditions where relevant, observers, methods, effort, GPS tracks, photographs and all negative and positive results.
  • Submit confirmed records and important negative survey information to the relevant state or territory wildlife database, and provide records to the project approval authority where required.
  • Report any suspected Greater Bilby record promptly to the project ecologist and environmental manager before works continue in that area.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

The Greater Bilby is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act and occurs in fragmented populations across parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and south-west Queensland, with managed or translocated populations elsewhere. Avoiding occupied habitat and retaining burrows, food resources and movement routes are the first controls.

Redesign the footprint to retain known or likely bilby habitat, active or potentially active burrows, fresh foraging pits, dense tussock or hummock cover, mulga vegetation, drainage areas and sandy or alluvial feeding areas.

Retain connected habitat between burrow areas and adjoining suitable habitat. Do not create isolated retained patches surrounded by roads, hardstand, trenches or cleared corridors where an alternative alignment is available.

Avoid broad-scale clearing and retain vegetation cover because extensive fires, grazing and clearing can increase exposure to predators and reduce food availability.

Keep construction traffic, lighting, noise, spoil, trenching, stockpiles and worker access outside marked burrow areas and retained habitat.

  • Establish exclusion zones around confirmed bilby signs and habitat features before machinery arrives.
  • Have the project ecologist set site-specific setbacks after assessing the burrow, the proposed activity, terrain and the likelihood of vibration, collapse, lighting or indirect disturbance.
  • Do not treat an unoccupied-looking burrow as redundant without an appropriately qualified assessment.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and planning

Check whether the action is likely to have a significant impact on this EPBC-listed species and refer the action under the EPBC Act where required.

Check state and territory threatened species legislation, wildlife permits, animal ethics requirements, survey licences and authority requirements before survey, trapping, handling, relocation or clearing.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies bilby habitat, survey results, exclusion zones, approved clearing methods, fauna spotter catcher responsibilities, stop-work triggers, incident contacts and reporting requirements.

Commonwealth status: Vulnerable under the EPBC Act

State listings in the supplied documents: Queensland, Endangered; Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, Vulnerable

  • Obtain written approval for any proposed relocation, capture or handling before works start.
  • Include the Greater Bilby in the site induction, environmental risk register, clearing permit and daily pre-start checklist.
  • Confirm the current state listing and approval conditions for the project location because the species is listed as Endangered in Queensland and Vulnerable in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

Complete the approved pre-clearance survey close enough to the start of works that signs and burrow occupancy remain meaningful, while allowing time to redesign the work area if bilbies are found.

Mark burrows, fresh diggings, movement routes, retained habitat, access tracks and no-go areas on construction drawings and in the field.

Use exclusion fencing only where it will not block access to burrows, cut off movement between retained areas or funnel bilbies towards roads, machinery or predators.

Stage clearing so that retained habitat remains connected and animals are not surrounded by a progressively shrinking island of cover.

Schedule work to avoid the hottest part of the day where practicable, when bilbies are sheltering in burrows, and avoid periods when fire, heat or smoke controls make safe fauna management impracticable.

  • Brief machinery operators and supervisors on bilby identification, burrow avoidance, lighting controls and the stop-work procedure.
  • Provide the fauna spotter catcher with current maps, approval conditions, communications equipment and a safe location for temporary animal assessment.
  • Inspect proposed clearing limits each day before machinery enters them.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery interface

Greater Bilbies may remain underground during daylight and can be missed if clearing relies only on a visual sweep. Work must therefore proceed in small, supervised stages with the fauna spotter catcher controlling the immediate work area and machinery interface.

Complete a daily pre-start inspection of the approved work area, exclusion fencing, marked burrows, access routes and retained habitat.

The fauna spotter catcher must be present for clearing and ground disturbance in bilby habitat, remain in direct communication with the operator and have a clear view of the active work face where safe to do so.

Clear progressively in small sections towards retained habitat, where this is consistent with the approved fauna management plan and does not drive animals towards roads, machinery or unsuitable habitat.

Use low speeds, stop frequently and remove vegetation and surface debris in a controlled sequence so the spotter catcher can inspect the ground before the next section is disturbed.

  • Stop machinery whenever the spotter catcher signals, loses sight of the work face, identifies a burrow or sign, or cannot safely inspect the next section.
  • Keep machinery, vehicles and workers out of marked exclusion zones unless the environmental manager has authorised access under the approval conditions.
  • Control night lighting so that it does not unnecessarily illuminate burrow entrances or retained habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Burrows and habitat features

Do not collapse, fill, excavate, drive over or block a bilby burrow unless this is specifically authorised and a qualified fauna professional has confirmed that the action is necessary and safe.

Do not remove surface cover, tussocks, spinifex, mulga regeneration, logs or rocks from retained habitat unless the approved plan requires it.

Inspect trenches, pits, culverts and open excavations at the start of each day and before backfilling because a bilby may enter them while moving through the site.

Provide safe egress from any excavation that cannot be closed promptly, without directing animals towards active machinery or roads.

  • Treat fresh diggings, tracks, scats or a burrow entrance as a potential active-use record until assessed by the project ecologist.
  • Do not relocate logs, rocks or other cover into a bilby exclusion zone without checking that animals are not sheltering beneath or beside them.
  • Manage fire, dust, grazing and introduced herbivore access so that vegetation cover and food resources are not unnecessarily lost during the works.

During habitat disturbance: Animal encounters and incidents

If a Greater Bilby is found, stop work in the immediate area, keep people and machinery back, and allow the animal access to cover or a burrow where safe.

Only an appropriately authorised and experienced person may capture, handle, contain or relocate the animal.

Use the approved relocation procedure and release animals only into nearby retained habitat that is suitable, connected and outside the active work area, unless the relevant authority directs otherwise.

Do not chase an animal into a burrow or attempt to extract it from a burrow without specific authorisation and veterinary or specialist advice.

Send injured animals to a veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer through the approved wildlife rescue pathway.

  • Stop work until the ecologist confirms the animal has moved safely or an approved response has been completed.
  • Stop work and escalate if a live bilby, carcass, occupied burrow, repeated fresh signs, injured animal or unauthorised handling event is recorded.
  • Record the location, time, condition, photographs, personnel, action taken, release location or receiving veterinarian, and the approval or permit used.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Controls must remain in place after the machinery leaves. Post-clearance checks are needed because bilbies can move through retained habitat, use several burrows and be displaced into adjoining work areas.

Inspect the cleared footprint, retained habitat edge, exclusion fencing, trenches, culverts, spoil areas and access tracks at the end of each work stage and after major weather or fire events.

Search for new tracks, fresh diggings, scats, burrows, carcasses and signs of animals entering the work area.

Remove or close hazards such as open trenches, uncovered pits, loose fencing and unsecured pipes as soon as practicable.

Keep no-go zones, burrow markers and fauna exclusion controls in place until the project ecologist confirms that the relevant work stage is complete.

  • Reinspect areas where vegetation was removed around burrows or where machinery caused vibration, compaction or changes to drainage.
  • Record all observations, including no detections, with dates, locations, photographs and the name of the observer.
  • Escalate any new record or injury under the project fauna incident procedure and approval conditions.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained and rehabilitated habitat for bilby activity using mapped burrows, diggings, spotlighting and remote cameras where these methods are specified in the approved monitoring plan.

Monitor the condition of food plants, ground cover, fire effects, grazing, rabbits, feral cats and foxes because these factors affect habitat quality and predation pressure.

Compare monitoring results with the approved baseline and report changes in bilby activity, habitat condition, predator activity and any mortality.

  • Submit required records to the relevant state or territory wildlife database and the Commonwealth approval holder or regulator where required.
  • Report non-compliance, injury, mortality, unauthorised clearing or damage to a burrow immediately through the project incident system.
  • Retain survey data, camera records, GPS files, photographs, permits, handling records and rehabilitation results for the period required by the approval.

After habitat disturbance: Residual impacts and offsets

Reassess residual impacts after avoidance, mitigation, rehabilitation and monitoring measures have been applied.

Apply any EPBC Act environmental offsets, state offsets or other compensatory measures required by the approval or statutory decision.

Direct any approved conservation contribution towards actions that support wild bilby populations, predator control, secure habitat, fire management, monitoring or insurance populations.

  • Do not use an offset as a substitute for avoiding occupied habitat, active burrows or connected retained habitat.
  • Check the approval conditions for the required timing, area, tenure, management standard and reporting arrangements for any offset.

Rehabilitation actions: Habitat reinstatement

Rehabilitation should restore connected arid and semi-arid habitat that provides food, cover, burrowing substrate and safe movement. It should also reduce the conditions that increase predation and competition from introduced species.

Reinstate locally appropriate tussock grassland, hummock grassland and mulga woodland or shrubland consistent with the pre-clearing community and the surrounding habitat.

Use local provenance seed or plants where required by the rehabilitation plan, including native grasses, sedges, shrubs and other food plants that support invertebrates, bulbs, seeds and fungi.

Restore natural soil profiles and drainage, avoid compaction, and retain suitable sandy, clayey, stony or alluvial substrates used by local bilbies.

Reinstate surface cover and roughness with retained natural material where appropriate, without burying or blocking existing burrows.

  • Do not create dense, continuous weeds or vegetation that changes fire behaviour or provides cover for introduced predators.
  • Control weeds and inspect rehabilitated areas after rain, earthworks and maintenance activities.
  • Prevent livestock, rabbits and other introduced herbivores from damaging recovering vegetation.

Rehabilitation actions: Shelter and habitat features

Retain and reinstate suitable logs, rocks, tussocks, spinifex hummocks and other ground features that provide cover and improve habitat structure.

Do not install nest boxes as a substitute for bilby burrows. Greater Bilbies shelter in burrows and the supplied documents do not identify nest boxes as a Greater Bilby rehabilitation measure.

Where approved, use habitat works that support natural burrow construction by restoring loose, suitable soil and protecting the area from compaction and disturbance.

  • Check all relocated logs, rocks and soil piles for animals before placement and after placement.
  • Keep restored habitat connected to occupied or suitable retained habitat.
  • Mark and protect newly detected burrows during maintenance and monitoring.

Rehabilitation actions: Predator, fire and grazing management

Implement site-appropriate fox and feral cat control around retained and rehabilitated bilby habitat under the relevant permits and threat management plans.

Manage rabbits and other introduced herbivores so that grazing, soil compaction and loss of food plants remain below levels that damage bilby habitat.

Use region-specific fire management to avoid extensive, intense fires and maintain a mosaic of vegetation ages and cover, including patch burning or other approved methods where appropriate.

After wildfire, inspect burrow areas and increase predator control and monitoring where required by the management plan.

  • Coordinate fire planning with Traditional Owners, land managers, fire authorities and the project ecologist.
  • Do not undertake burning without a written fire plan, weather assessment, fire authority approval where required and measures to protect retained bilby habitat.
  • Record fire extent, severity, vegetation recovery, predator activity and bilby signs after each fire event.

Rehabilitation actions: Success measures

Set rehabilitation objectives for native plant establishment, ground cover, soil stability, connectivity, weed control, predator control and absence of new barriers to bilby movement.

Use repeat mapped searches, spotlighting, cameras and records of burrows and fresh diggings to assess whether bilbies use retained and rehabilitated areas.

Continue monitoring for the period specified in the approval and management plan, and adjust weed, grazing, predator, fire and access controls when results do not meet the agreed objectives.

  • Report rehabilitation results, failed controls, mortality, new records and corrective actions to the project environmental manager and relevant regulator where required.
  • Use the national monitoring and survey protocols when available, and maintain consistent methods so results can be compared between monitoring periods.
  • Treat evidence of repeated bilby use, stable or increasing sign detection, recovering food resources and maintained connectivity as key indicators of rehabilitation performance, subject to the approved success criteria.

Sources