 |
 The
name cassowary comes from two Papuan
words, ‘kasu’ meaning horned and ‘weri’ meaning head,
referring to the prominent casque on
its head.
An adult cassowary
can stand up to 1.8 metres (6’)
tall.
The average weight is 38kg (84lb)
for males and 47kg (104lb) for females.
Cassowaries can live for 30 to 40
years in the wild.
Cassowaries are generally solitary
birds, coming together only to mate
during the breeding season which starts
around May/June.
The female bird lays several clutches
of 3-5 eggs, by different fathers.
The male cassowary is solely responsible
for incubating the eggs and raising
the young. They sit on the nest for
50 days until the eggs hatch.
The father teaches the chicks how
to forage and by nine months they become
independent.
The chick’s
striped appearance soon fades to
brown before their distinctive
adult colouring starts to develop.
They mature at about three years.
Male birds can be aggressive in defending
their chicks. In the wild cassowaries
are generally shy and avoid contact
with humans. |
|
|
 
The southern cassowary
is the world’s third largest bird. It is one
of Australia’s largest land animals and plays
a unique role in the ecology of the World Heritage
listed rainforests of tropical Australia
Cassowaries are ratites,
flightless birds closely related to the emu,
ostrich, kiwi and some extinct species. The
Australian sub species is the Southern Cassowary,
found in three populations onAustralia’s
of Far North Queensland coast. The most vulnerable,
is located on the wet tropical rainforest
coastal strip between the cities of Townsville
and Cooktown.
Both the Australian
Government’s Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999 and the State of Queensland’s Nature
Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994 list
the Southern Cassowary as an endangered species.
Scientists believe only 1200 – 1500
cassowaries survive in the wild in Australia,
this is comparable with the number of Giant
Pandas in China.
 |
| Adult Cassowary |
|
|
Vital to the rainforests’ survival
Cassowaries are a keystone species which means
they are vital for seed dispersal in the rainforest.
Over 150 rainforest plants rely on them, especially
for dispersing the seeds of large-fruit species.
The ecology and extensive
distribution of the cassowary makes it an
effective conservation “flagship” species
whose conservation will have significant flow
on benefits for many other species and ecosystems.
 |
|
 |
|
Endangered but still
threatened:
• These guardians
of the rainforest are still threatened by habitat
loss, road deaths and attacks by dogs.
• More
than 80% of its prime habitat, coastal lowland
rainforest, has been cleared over the last 100
years.
• Nearly a quarter of the remaining cassowary habitat has poor conservation
protection.
• In the Mission Beach area alone cassowaries have lost 42% of their
critical habitat
in the past ten years.
• Links between the remaining patches of rainforest are essential if the
cassowary is to survive. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
