There were smiles all round as the bilby sisters, Jane, Daisy and Blossom all shared the centre stage with Dr Goodall, along with Australian Swimming Champion, Dawn Fraser, and the Australian naturalist, Bob Irwin.
This modification of an object was regarded as the beginning of tool making and up until 1960, scientists had never witnessed a species other than humans displaying this behaviour. It was a ground breaking discovery. Shortly after, Dr Goodall’s research mentor Professor Louis Leakey made his infamous response declaring: “Now we must redefine tool, redefine Man, or accept chimpanzees as humans."
Frank Manthey, Co-founder of the Save the Bilby Fund, says he hopes that with such high-profile endorsements, the Save the Bilby Fund will be able to get their conservation message across to the Australian community and preserve the future of this unique Australian marsupial. He believes that the media have driven this issue into the limelight with their stories on how governments are spending so little on feral animal control.
Our CEO Mark Townsend has also stressed the important work by Frank Manthey in stating, "if it wasn't for Frank and his passion, there wouldn’t be any bilbies." To find out how you can get involved with the environmental conservation, check out Dr Jane Goodall’s youth service program Roots & Shoot.
