Save the Cassowary

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Campaign Summary

The Save the Cassowary campaign is working hard to encourage local, state and federal government to commit the much needed funds towards protecting the Endangered Southern Cassowary habitat in the Daintree and Mission Beach from further destruction and fragmentation for urban development.

Estimates suggest that there may be as few as 1000 cassowaries left in Australia. They rely heavily on the connectivity of the coastal lowlands rainforests for food, shelter and breeding territory. Between urban development, roads and farmlands the coastal lowlands are severely fragmented. Development also leads to an increase in vehicle collisions and dog attacks.

There are currently 185 properties in the heart of the Daintree zoned for development and in Mission Beach, subdivisions have created over 1000 residential blocks. Devastating effects of cyclones also threaten the Cassowary and its habitat.

It is vital for the Cassowary, other threatened and endangered rainforest species and for resilience to climate change that the coastal lowlands are reconnected, rehabilitated and protected. Take Action today by sending Tony Burke a clear message.

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Threats to Cassowary Survival

By 1997, 81% of the lowland native vegetation, the Cassowary's essential habitat, had been cleared, with the rest of the rainforest habitat in the Wet Tropics highly fragmented. In the past decade, clearing rates have slowed from 3,000 hectares to 1,000 hectares a year, but this is relatively constant. (Latch 2007)

Ongoing habitat destruction is driving the reduction of the number of Cassowaries left in the wild. As the clearing and fragmentation of rainforest for residential development continues, the Cassowary is driven closer to extinction day by day.

The rainforest of the Wet Tropics is subject to cyclones, which a healthy, intact rainforest can recover from relatively quickly. However, rainforests that have been fragmented take a longer time to recover, leaving the Cassowaries prone to starving and suffering exposed to the hot sun and for longer periods of time.

Over the past 15 years there has been 67 recorded Cassowary deaths related to direct collisions with vehicles in Mission Beach alone.

The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area is already criss-crossed with 3777 kilometers of highways, roads and tracks. Approximately half the Cassowary's habitat in the Daintree lowlands are intersected by roads. (Crome and Moore, 1993),(Latch, 2007).

Adult male Cassowaries often have chicks in their care up until 9 months old. Were a male adult Cassowary to be struck and killed by a car, it is likely that his chicks would also perish without his protection and guidance, destroying the next generation before they mature.

In the Wet Tropics, most properties are unfenced and hence unrestrained, unaccompanied dogs are regularly encountered in the Daintree and the rainforest surrounding Mission Beach. Whilst there is a recent record of a dog killing a young Cassowary in the Daintree in March 2009, most killings of Cassowaries and other wildlife go unreported.

Fencing, particularly at Mission Beach around subdivisions, interrupt the movement of Cassowaries. Cassowaries don't understand fencing and can end up trapped endlessly pacing on either side.

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Latest Updates

Save the Cassowary Campaign Progress, April 2011
Decision looming for Garretts Corridor July 11th, 2011
Update Post Cyclone Yasi April 15, 2011