Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 6: Australia

Easter in Australia is very similar to Easter in any other English-speaking country, but with one exception: you may get a chocolate bilby in your Easter basket rather than a chocolate bunny.

Rabbits aren't native to Australia, having been introduced to the continent when English settlers started arriving in the late 18th century. It wasn't until the middle of the following century, with a decline in the numbers of predatory species and natural selection producing a heartier rabbit optimized for Australia that the numbers took off.

Since then, rabbits have been responsible for widespread damage to native plants and crops, causing significant erosion problems where they've eaten away native ground cover. Attempts at controlling the population, through hunting, introducing rabbit-specific diseases, and fencing, have not had the effect that Australians were hoping for.

One of the native animals endangered by the rabbits was the bilby, a burrowing marsupial that competes with rabbits for food and living space. A story about an Easter bibly was written by an Australian girl in 1968 (but published later), which helped spark the idea that the native animal was a better symbol for Easter in Australia than an invasive species. More recently, Australian candy companies have made chocolate bilbies as a way to raise funds to both support the bilby and enhance methods for reeling in the rabbit population.