Should bilbies be the new Easter Bunnies in Australia?

Rabbits are a problem in Australia. That’s why some people think the bilby should be the national Easter animal.

Words:

• Crops are plants that farmers grow for food or resources.
• When animals make babies, they are reproducing. 
• Mammals are animals that (usually) have fur and feed milk to their young.
• The name for a type of animal is a species.
• When an animal is vulnerable, it’s an official term to mean it is under threat. It is slightly less serious as the term endangered, which means the animal could go extinct (die out).
• When two animals are in competition or compete with each other, it means they both need the same land, food or resources.
• When something gets discontinued, it is no longer made.
• Conservation is the act of trying to protect animals that are endangered.

Video:

Watch the video from 0:00-1:39.

1. Why are rabbits a problem in Australia? The video gives four reasons. Write down one of these reasons.

2. Read the text. Select the correct word in each sentence.

Bilbies are a native / invasive species in Australia. This species is over 15 million / billion years old. They used to live in about 70% / 30% of the country. There used to be two species, the greater bilby and the lesser bilby. The lesser bilby went extinct in the 1950s / 1970s. Nowadays the greater bilbies are considered a vulnerable / competitive species. There are fewer than / more than 10,000 left of them in captivity / the wild. 

3. Rabbits are an introduced species that competes with the bilby.  The video mentioned two more introduced species. Which are they? 

Watch from 1:39 to the end of the video.

4. Why did the chocolate maker in the video make a chocolate bilby? There are two correct answers.

A: To outsell the chocolate bunnies. 

B: To raise awareness about the bilby.

C: To attract people to zoos to see the bilby.

D: To raise money to help protect the bilby.

E: It’s a joke designed to make people laugh.

5. True or false? Explain your answer. 

The chocolate maker in the video stopped making chocolate bunnies in the 1990s and started making chocolate bilbies instead. 

6. If you could create a chocolate animal to raise money for an endangered species, which animal would you choose and why?

Van de makers van All Right!, Of Course! en Taalblokken Engels