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The Fringe
April 13, 1996
Web posted at: 11:55 p.m. EDTAn 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.
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