Bandicoots and Bilbies: Peramelemorphia

Since the coming of European colonists in 1770, three species have gone extinct: the pig-footed bandicoot, the desert bandicoot, and the lesser bilby. The number of animals in four other species has dropped to dangerously low levels and they are considered Endangered, facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, or Vulnerable, facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. So little is known about most of the species in the Peroryctidae family that their conservation status cannot be accurately evaluated.

Since the 1980s captive breeding and conservation programs have succeeded in increasing the number of bilbies. The Australian Bilby Appreciation Society has developed public relations programs to increase awareness of the need to protect these animals. They have also raised money for a fenced preserve, because bilbies cannot thrive in the wild without predator control. Other species have been the focus of less conservation awareness and continue to decline.