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The Fringe
April 7, 1996
Web posted at: 5:20 p.m. EDT (2120 GMT)An Easter bilby, you say?
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Imagine a chocolate Easter icon with a body like a rat, feet like a chicken and ears like a rabbit.
Australians have started a movement to stamp out the Easter bunny and replace it with the Easter bilby -- a goofy-looking critter that resembles a variety of animals, including the rat, chicken, kangaroo, opossum and rabbit.
Mammalogist Timothy Flannery of Sydney reports in the April issue of Natural History magazine that rabbits are not universally admired in Australia. He says rabbits "became a pest of almost unimaginable proportions" when they were introduced down under in the mid-19th century.
Now, environmentally conscious parents are starting to give their children chocolate Easter bilbies. It's unclear whether the Easter bunny hunters will shoot down the Easter egg next.
A bilby is a small marsupial that once was common but now is endangered. They are nocturnal animals that live off insects, fungi and plant bulbs; during the day, they rest in a deep burrow.
And unlike bunnies, which are known to breed faster than they eat lettuce, bilbies are slow to reproduce. A typical bilby rears two young ones.
Children, who aren't as environmentally conscious as their elders, may or may not seize on the bilby as an Easter symbol. In that case, the sweet-toothed bilbies will be just a passing fad.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Toilet revolution: Beijing cleans up restrooms
From Beijing Bureau Chief Andrea Koppel
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Tired of foul-smelling and filthy public bathrooms, city authorities in Beijing have launched a toilet revolution, hoping to flush criticism of their public facilities down the drain.
The scarceness and stench of Beijing's public restrooms are a major blot on the city's image, according to the Chinese media.
In China, the bathrooms are at best Spartan; at worst, they're -- well, as one man pointed out: "You should see that one. It's so dirty you can't even get past the door."
The ratio of people to toilets is 10,000 to one. Plus, many Chinese don't have indoor plumbing, so entire neighborhoods will often share what is essentially a piquant outhouse.
Thus, the typical bathroom ritual is a quick squat with eyes closed and nose clamped.
The toilet situation is further complicated by extreme weather conditions -- summers are sweltering and winters can be brutally cold. Not a pleasant combination in a cramped restroom. Furthermore, residents typically have to pay to use the john.
However, in steps Lou Xiaoqi, Beijing's king of sanitation.
Lou has been the man leading the charge to spiff up the capital's commodes. In August 1994, his Foundation for Civilized Development held a toilet-designing contest and solicited sketches from around the world. A year and a half later, 38 new models are up and flushing at a cost of roughly $70,000 dollars per building.
"From the point of view of Chinese tradition, this is a big change. That's why we call it a toilet revolution," Lou says.
When Lou began his project to upgrade the toilets, many locals griped about building fancy bathrooms before building new homes.
But now, the majority of that criticism has gone with the wind.
"Before, the management at the public bathrooms wasn't very good," one longtime resident explained. "You'd have urinals and toilets leaking and overflowing out the door. But now, it's very good."
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