Bilbies' names evoke images of nature

The bilby babies at the Malcolm Douglas Wildlife Wilderness Park near Broome are now known as Miah, Miriyan and Amaroo – the Aboriginal words for sun, moon and beautiful place – thanks to a creative suggestion by Noah Paget, 10.

When Noah’s mother discovered a package on the front doorstep, the family assumed it was something they’d ordered and forgotten about.

They were delighted to find Noah had won The West Online’s competition to name the rare bilby triplets born at Malcolm Douglas’ Wildlife Park earlier this year.

Noah, a Year 5 student at Banksia Park Primary School, said he was surprised about winning the competition. He said he and his sister Siobhan had turned to the internet for help to find the best names for the triplets and liked the traditional Aboriginal names.

“I thought they sounded nice and I liked their meaning,” he said.

The new arrivals at the park have taken the number of babies born from four breeding pairs to 11 in the past two months.

It has made the late Mr Douglas’ fledging breeding program, into which he poured so much of his own money and energy before he died last year, one of the most successful in the nation.

Mr Douglas’ widow Valerie Douglas, her daughter Mandy and general manager of the park Mark Jones, who chose the names from hundreds of entries, said the names “fit well with Malcolm’s memory”.

Noah and his family hope to visit Broome during the school holidays, where he will visit the park and meet the bilby babies for the first time.