BILBIES will be reintroduced to the Pilliga forests for the first time in more than 100 years.
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State Enivironment Minister Gabrielle Upton made the historic announcement with the animals expected to call NSW national parks home before the end of the year.
The NSW Government is working with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) to reintroduce Bilbies into the Pilliga forests
“This is a historic step for Bilby conservation,” Ms Upton said.
Read more: Re-wilding to go ahead in Pilliga
“They became extinct in NSW over 100 years ago and for the first time they will be back in the wild.
“The NSW Government is investing over $40 million through the Saving our Species program to reintroduce native species to NSW. The rewilding project with AWC is part of that significant investment.”
As part of the project, AWC is building a specially designed 32 kilometre feral cat and fox-proof fence to establish a secure 5800 hectare feral predator-free area into which wild Bilbies will be reintroduced.
“This new fence is crucial to protecting the Bilbies and the first posts have just gone in,” Ms Upton said.
Member for Barwon Kevin Humphries welcomed the exciting project milestone.
“Over the next two months over 6500 fence pickets, 300 kilometres of plain wire and 96 kilometres of netting will be installed,” Mr Humphries said.
“Then work starts to remove all the feral cats and foxes from across the 5800 hectares of forest – it’s a massive project.”
