Adelaide Zoo

As a conservation charity, every visit, adoption, donation and ticket helps save species from extinction

Greater Bilby

Animal Facts

  • Genus:

    Macrotis

  • Species:

    Macrotis lagotis

  • Conservation
    Status:

    Vulnerable

  • Found In:

    Australia

  • Length:

    20-55cm

Meet the bouncing bilbies!

Adelaide Zoo is home to two beautiful male Greater Bilbies, Lief and Jantaju.

Jantaju, affectionately known as “JJ” by the keeping staff, was born in 2002 and moved from Monarto Safari Park in 2024 after retiring from the Greater Bilby breeding program, having fathered a total of seven joeys! Participants in the Keeper for a Day experience can meet Jantaju and the squirrel gliders he shares his enclosure with, as long as tasty treats are involved.

Leif (pronounced “Leaf”), born in May 2025, is just over a year old! He is the grandson of Jantaju and loves exploring his surroundings.

Bilby conservation

Zoos SA has been part of the National Recovery Team for the Greater Bilby for over 25 years and each birth brings hope for the endangered native species. Our breeding program at Monarto Safari Park, has bred over 200 bilbies with more than 90 released back into the wild as part of vital recovery projects.

We are especially proud of our work in reintroducing Greater Bilbies back to South Australia including Thistle Island, Venus Bay, and Roxby Downs after an absence of nearly 70 years (the first release was in 1997).

Bilbies are native to Australia and live in arid rocky habitats with little surface water, semi-arid shrublands and woodlands. They construct deep burrows to shelter from the heat of the day, emerging well after dark to forage.

Using their long sticky tongues to lick up seeds and insects, they rely on their senses of smell and hearing to locate food. They get most of their moisture needs from their diet which consists mainly of plant roots, seeds, fruit and small animals.

These marsupials can have up to four litters in a year. But although there are eight teats in the pouch, usually only two young are born.

The Greater Bilby was once common across 70% of Australia, but are now under threat due to habitat loss, competition with introduced animals and predation by feral cats and foxes. There are less than 10,000 bilbies estimated to remain in the wild.

Love bilbies? Help us keep working to ensure our long-eared marsupial friends stay a hop ahead of extinction!

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