The ARF is funding
research by the Australian Government’s Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
into the “Development of genetic survey
methodologies for cassowaries into determining
the size of the cassowary population
around Mission Beach’ led by CSIRO
scientist Dr. David Westcott, colleague Leo
Joseph and Peter Latch from the Queensland
Parks and Wildlife Service.
By collecting cassowary
droppings and studying its DNA, these scientists
hope to prevent the cassowary’s extinction,
which in turn will help the regeneration
of our tropical rainforests. “When food passes through the guts of
a vertebrate it always scrapes off some of
the stomach lining. Through these old stomach
cells in the faeces the scientist tries to
extract DNA. The faeces are then studied to
determine the genetic make-up of the cassowary.
From this scientists can then tell if the droppings
in one area are from a single bird or from
a lot of different birds, and this helps researchers
to more accurately count the bird population,” Dr
Westcott said.
