Adorable bilby triplets melting Qld hearts

The three-month-old triplets were the size of a fingernail when born and now weigh around 400 grams at three months of age.

But while the fur babies play with each other safely at Dreamworld, elsewhere the bilby is fighting for survival.

Bilbies were once widely spread across Australia's desert country but now only occupy about 20 per cent of their former range.

Dreamworld's Al Mucci says the rare triplets probably would not have survived in the wild.

"They usually have two offspring at a time because there are four teats but only two generally fit in the pouch," Mr Mucci said.

"To have three survive is pretty cool. It's only happened once before here at Dreamworld and once at another institution.

"In the wild, it would be pretty tough carrying three bilbies around."

Mr Mucci, who is also director of the Save the Bilby Association, said their biggest threat was feral cats.

"There are 20 million feral cats who now call Australia home and they are chewing their way through the deserts of Australia.

"In western Queensland and our bush areas, feral cats are the biggest environmental disaster we are facing.

"Anything they can kill, they will kill it and eat it. That's why the lesser bilby is extinct, 27 other mammals have become extinct and an enormous amount of birds and reptiles are also diminishing."

Culling wild dogs which had plagued farmers, had allowed the cat population to explode.

"Indigenous people are saying that ever since the dogs got baited and are gone, feral cats have moved in and are actually better killers."

"If we reduce the wild cat population, the small mammal population like bilbies will increase, it's inevitable."

Environmentalists have been working on ways to cull feral cats, with a trap still in the development stage that would spray the cats with a poison that the cat licks and dies instantly.

The trap would use electronic sensors to ensure only feral cats were targeted.

Australian Associated Press