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Billy, Bobby, McBilbyface? See which name was chosen for the baby bilby

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We asked you to name the baby bilby born before Easter at the Ipswich Nature Centre.

Amanda Laverty suggested Roni which received eight likes on the Facebook post asking residents to choose a name.

The Ipswich Nature Centre staff thought in this unusual time that a coronavirus related name would be a fitting choice.

Ms Laverty said she suggested Roni because of his timing.

“The bilby emerged from the pouch when the zoo was closed because of coronavirus and it was lovely that the community could still get involved despite not being able to go and see him,” Ms Laverty said.

“I feel the name Roni is not only relevant to the situation but also super cute.”

The bilby was born in January and staff first saw him in the pouch when he was still the size of a jelly bean.

Roni emerged from the pouch right before Easter.

The baby is staying close to his mum, Tanami, occasionally venturing off to explore his new surrounds.

Roni will continue to suckle milk from the pouch until he is fully weaned at around 13 to 15 weeks.

The Ipswich Nature Centre has a world class bilby breeding enclosure.

Ms Richards said the successful breeding here in Ipswich bodes well for the endangered species.

“Through Save the Bilby Fund, the Queensland Government, and the National Recovery Plan for the species, plans are in place for bilbies to be released into Currawinya National Park and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy Mt Gibson,” she said.

“The Ipswich Nature Centre has bred bilbies successfully in the past, with a male born in 2018 and female triplets born in 2017.

“Each of these girls was relocated from the Ipswich Nature Centre to other facilities and one was released at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy Mt Gibson.”

Ipswich First

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