Sue and I would like to thank the many people who have written to express their
sadness at the news of Missy the female Cassowary being found dead. Ironically
just yesterday we had a tracking and feeding station set up here on our
property as part of studies to find out more about movements of these iconic
birds.
I attach a comment from James Biggs from Cairns Tropical Zoo about Ruptured
Bowel Syndrome:
Very sad news for Kuranda.
I have learned a couple of things from my limited experience of dissecting
old, long-term
captive cassowaries. While outwardly, a cassowary may look completely
normal, often i've found significant issues internally on post mortem. A
perforated bowel can be caused by a number of things such as trauma, or
disease such as diverticulitis. The beauty about captive birds is that we
can identify (with some degree of certainty) whether a perforated bowel was
caused by either external trauma (fight with another bird) internal trauma
(stray nail, wire or other sharp object), or other disease - because we see
(and analyse) the birds and their poo (yes, we analyse their poo!) every
day. I'd only be speculating if I were to comment about the two kuranda
birds and I don't want to add further conjecture, but two birds in the same
area with the same diagnosis seems like it could be a little unusual. I'd be
interested to see the full reports if possible.
Phil Gregory
ornithological writer/ bird guide/ tour organizer
Field Guides / Sicklebill Safaris / Cassowary House / Cassowary Tours
P.O. Box 387
Kuranda
QLD, 4881
Australia
Phone: +61 (0)7 4093 7318
Fax: +61 (0)7 4093 9855
Email:
Website 1: Http://www.sicklebillsafaris.com
Website 2: Http://www.cassowary-house.com.au
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