The beginning of the Easter Bilby |
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Haigh's Easter Bilby weekend. |
The Easter Bilby is an Australian symbol of Easter, to replace the Easter Bunny. Very young children are indoctrinated with the concept that bunnies are nice soft fluffy creatures whereas in reality they are Australia's greatest environmental feral pest and cause enormous damage to the arid zone. In 1991 Nicholas Newland of RFA developed the idea of the Easter Bilby, to dispel that myth and at the same time promote and raise awareness about the damage that rabbits cause. The business name 'Easter Bilby' was registered on the 3 December 1991. Easter Bilby Book After a hectic period finalising details, Kaye Kessing and Ali Garnett’s book 'Easter Bilby' was distributed. This was followed by “Easter Bilby’s Secret”. Both storybooks are available from the Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (see link at left). Curriculum Materials A cross curriculum education kit titled 'Bilbies not Bunnies' was sponsored and developed by the Foundation and many hundreds of copies have been purchased by schools throughout Australia. The Easter Bilby Teacher's kit is available from the Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (see link at left). Haigh’s Easter Bilby weekend
Every Easter Haigh’s and the Rundle Mall promotions team organize an Easter Bilby weekend in Rundle Mall. Haigh’s turn up in their beautiful Model T Ford, handing out delicious Haigh’s chocolate. There are displays from RFA, the Rotary organization Australian Campaign for Rabbit Eradication (ACRE), and the zoo team. There are activities such as music, storytelling from “Easter Bilby” and “Easter Bilby’s Secret”, colouring in and face-painting. Best of all there is the gigantic Easter Bilby tent, and sometimes Easter Bilby himself drops in to say g’day. |
