Peter
Michael, The Courier-Mail
February
21, 2018 2:00pm
THE
Daintree’s endangered cassowaries – under threat from pigs, dogs, cars and
crocodiles – may be thrown the lifeline of a new research and breeding facility
in the world’s oldest rainforest.
Douglas
Shire Council has ordered a feasibility study into how to protect the dwindling
population of the iconic flightless bird, a popular tourist drawcard, in the
jungles of far north Queensland.
Every
year hundreds of southern cassowaries, a throwback to the dinosaur era, are killed
or injured, and baby chicks orphaned.
Today
it is estimated as few as 1500 birds still survive in the wild in Australia.
“We’re
firmly dedicated to protecting our cassowaries,’’ Douglas Mayor Julia Leu said.
“I
think it is time we at least look at the feasibility of building one (a
cassowary facility) in the Daintree Rainforest.’’
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