Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service officers have rescued a cassowary chick that has undergone rehabilitation and is now one step closer to being released into the wild.
Senior Wildlife Officer, Dinouk Perera said a member of the public found the sick and injured bird abandoned in the Mission Beach area and reported it to the Department of Environment and Science (DES) in April last year.
“The bird was taken into DES’s Garners Beach Cassowary Rehabilitation Centre for a vet check and rehabilitation,” Mr Perera said.
“Gradually, it has built up its strength and is now ready to be transferred to the Tablelands Rehabilitation Facility at Barrine.”
He said the Barrine facility, operated by Rainforest Reserves Australia, mimicked the rainforest and the chick would continue to learn to forage for its own food, and to become unhabituated from humans.
“Importantly, the chick will be placed into an enclosure with another young chick, so they will both have companionship as they continue to rehabilitate and grow,” Mr Perera said.
“The other young bird was rescued by wildlife officers at Kuranda earlier this year when its parent had not been seen for several days and was feared to have died.”
He said it was believed people around Kuranda and Mission Beach had been feeding cassowaries, which could place the birds in grave danger of vehicle strikes and dog attacks.
Mr Perera said the partnership between DES, Rainforest Reserves Australia and the Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation (C4) group was helping to fast-track the rehabilitation of cassowaries in care and their release back into the wild.
“The committed volunteers from the long-established C4 group spend many hours collecting native fruit from the rainforest to feed to cassowaries and preparing other food during their time at the Garner’s Beach Rehabilitation Centre,” he said.
“C4, along with Rainforest Reserves Australia, are dedicated to rehabilitation, release and cassowary research.”
