That is very sad news Phil. I really hope you can find the cause. Your
place is such an important refuge that it would be a tragedy if the
population that uses it is decimated.
Regards,
Iain
On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 12:07 AM, Phil Gregory <> wrote:
> Many thousands of people over the years have seen the Cassowaries at
> Cassowary House at Kuranda, one of the best places to see them. Sadly, all
> is far from well locally as we have now lost two big female birds in the
> past 18 months, both ostensibly from peritonitis:
>
> Last week Sept 14 our beautiful big adult female Cassowary Missy was found
> dead in a neighbour's garden, some guests there reported a sleeping
> Cassowary in the forest, and on checking our friends found her dead, having
> died around Sept 14. Missy was in the prime of life and should have been
> with us for years yet, she was also such a sweet tempered bird and so good
> with people without being tame, it is like losing one of the family as we'd
> known her for 15 years. Our Kuranda vet did an autopsy and apparently it
> was caused by peritonitis, a chronic inflammation of the gut, but why?
>
> This is the second adult female to die of this in the past 18 months here
> and we do not know what is the cause, it is very worrying, we are wondering
> if someone is poisoning rats or something and the birds are taking the
> carrion as they do. Missy had been spending long periods each day earlier
> this month sitting quietly under our big Waterberry tree, she looked in
> good health and was eating normally with normal scats. Our property is a
> long-established haven for them and they know they are safe here, away from
> dogs, cars and logging trucks.
>
> All very distressing, we still have the male with one 6 week old chick
> coming daily, but just hope nothing untoward happens to them
> Phil Gregory.
>
> Website 1: Http://www.sicklebillsafaris.com
> Website 2: Http://www.cassowary-house.com.au
>
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--
Iain Campbell
Tropical Birding Tours
www.tropicalbirding.com
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