What moves, if any, are being made to increase the availability of habitat
for the cassowaries?
--
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
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on 16/3/11 9:36 AM, Andrew Thelander at wrote:
> Dear Alan
>
> Thank you and Graham Harrington for this valuable information. I think it
> underlines the seriousness of the situation up there and how badly funding
> is needed. I had a look at BANQ's website www.birdsaustralianq.org
> <http://www.birdsaustralianq.org/> but couldn't find any details about the
> monitoring project or how to donate to it. Any advice?
>
> It has been suggested that loss of genetic variability and in-breeding are a
> threat to the Mission Beach cassowaries in their largely isolated and
> fragmented habitat. I imagine that the Yasi fatalities will only compound
> this negative potential. But, as Graham says, there are so many unknowns.
>
> I hate talking like this but the cassowary has very significant economic
> value to the Wet Tropics as suggested by the brand name "Cassowary Coast".
> The half a million dollars needed for the feeding program is entirely
> warranted in my view as a taxpayer. Indeed, I continue to hold the view that
> conservation and research funding in my home state is not adequate overall
> and I don't apologise for that view.
>
> I hope that the results of the monitoring project will eventually be made
> public and that the lessons learned make their way into DERM's
> policy/procedure documents in readiness for the next such event. DERM also
> have a very important role to play in dealing with the public in the settled
> areas of Mission Beach as people watch birds lose condition and succumb. I
> believe that a wildlife care group is getting distressed phone calls and I
> expect these are some of the folk phoning talkback radio and complaining.
> Maybe DERM need to be more forthcoming with details of what is happening and
> what can and can't be achieved so that the public have some idea of the
> bigger picture. But I'll leave that to the experts.
>
> Cheers
>
> Andrew
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: Alan Gillanders
> Sent: Tuesday, 15 March 2011 8:11 PM
> To: Andrew Thelander;
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Are the cassowaries getting enough to eat?
>
>
>
> Greetings,
> I threw this to Graham Harrington (ex BA president, current BANQ committee
> member and semi retired scientist) to respond and here are his comments.
> Regards,
> Alan
>
> "Andrew Thelanders queries about the feeding of cassowaries at Mission beach
> are timely and valid but the problem is that no one has the data to provide
> answers. Realising that DERM are flying blind Birds Australia North
> Queensland (BANQ) has donated $10,000 towards MONITORING the effects of the
> feeding on the population, the identity of each bird using the feeding
> stations, how long the birds continue to use them and how far the birds
> move. This will be undertaken both where the birds are being fed and where
> they are not. Other data on the amount of food consumed will be collected.
> This will utilise both DNA fingerprinting and automatic cameras. BANQ need
> another $20,000 for this project and will welcome any donations however
> small.
>
> "The response by DERM has been massive and prompt. It is a huge
> undertaking. It will also cost in excess of half a million dollars.
> Criticism is unwarranted. Of course not all the birds will be reached by
> the feeding program. There is likely to be competition between birds at the
> stations. It is probable that no young birds will survive the effects of
> the cyclone - this is normal when a population of animals is stressed. The
> weakest and young die first. Please give DERM the respect they deserve and
> do not peddle ridiculous rumours (I note that Andrew specifically avoided
> doing so).
>
> "The cyclone is a natural phenomenon and under normal circumstances most
> birds would have probably starved to death although some would have moved
> out of the area. What is not natural is the fragmented forest habitat,
> which inhibits movement and the concentration of cassowaries near the
> settlement of Mission Beach because they are fed. The forested area in the
> hinterland of Mission Beach is somewhat isolated by farm land and this means
> the movement of birds in and out is inhibited (although not completely). "
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Andrew Thelander" <>
> Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 3:13 PM
> To: <>
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Are the cassowaries getting enough to eat?
>
>> Hi all
>>
>>
>>
>> I have just had a look at the Dept of Environment and Resource
>> Management's
>> (DERM) website and it says: "By 9 March 2011, 93 feeding stations had been
>> established from the Cardwell Range north to Flying Fish Point and a total
>> of 3200 kg of fruit had been dropped by helicopter and placed at feeding
>> stations." Of course, Cyclone Yasi hit on 2 and 3 February 2011, so these
>> statistics cover the first 5 weeks of DERM's response to the cyclone.
>>
>>
>>
>> 3200 kg doesn't sound very much to me, especially if it was partly dropped
>> by helicopter and the birds had to compete with pigs and other animals for
>> it. The Department's Cassowary Recovery Plan cites pigs as a likely food
>> competitor to cassowaries and I believe the feeding stations are designed
>> to
>> be accessible by cassowaries but not pigs. The Plan also refers to Moore &
>> Moore's 2001 estimate of less than 1500 cassowaries left in the Wet
>> Tropics
>> region. DERM's website says that male cassowaries can weigh up to 55 kg
>> and
>> females up to 76 kg. They are big birds! Wildlife Australia's website
>> reports that they consume on average 2.9 kg of fruit per day in captivity.
>> In the wild, of course, they don't eat fruit exclusively but also fungi
>> and
>> meat.
>>
>>
>>
>> I am wondering how many birds are using the 93 feeding stations and how
>> much
>> fruit is being placed in them daily. If we are talking about 200 birds (I
>> am plucking this figure out of the air) and each got 2 kg, this amounts to
>> 400 kg of fruit per day or 4.3 kg per feeding station per day. The 3200 kg
>> of fruit put out in the first 5 weeks - if it had all been put in 93
>> feeding
>> stations (which it wasn't) beginning 7 days after Yasi (during which time
>> the birds had access to fallen fruit) - amounts to 1.2 kg per feeding
>> station per day. This is why the DERM figure doesn't sound very much to
>> me
>> and I would welcome correction and reassurance.
>>
>>
>>
>> I am raising this question as disturbing stories are coming out of the
>> Mission Beach area of cassowaries in trouble, particularly young birds
>> seemingly rejected by their fathers and having to compete with adults at
>> feeding stations. One young bird with a damaged hip was recently taken
>> into
>> captivity - it may well have been kicked by an adult. Today on Radio 4CA
>> in
>> Cairns, questions were raised about the efficacy of DERM's response to the
>> Yasi cassowary crisis including some surprising claims which I will not
>> repeat here.
>>
>>
>>
>> As I understand it, DERM plans to continue the feeding station program for
>> at least 12 months until the rainforest fruiting recovers. It may take
>> longer. This is no small task and requires good logistical organization
>> e.g.
>> sourcing, collecting and transporting of fruit, cutting it up where
>> required
>> and delivery to the 93 or more feeding stations. I only hope that DERM is
>> properly resourcing and directing its staff in a realistic manner so that
>> optimum results are achieved.
>>
>>
>>
>> I encourage everyone to donate to one of the charities collecting money
>> for
>> cassowary feeding. At this point in time, it seems that the Qld
>> government's
>> report card will have to read "can do better."
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Andrew Thelander
>>
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>
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