Have a cuppa, help a cassowary

IMAGINE a species where males incubate and raise their young, that can regenerate areas of land, and is charismatic.

You can see two of these animals at the Ballarat Wildlife Park. They are southern cassowaries and have inspired a special fundraiser for the school holidays.

Acutely aware that their natural rainforest habitat in Queensland is threatened, passionate conservation activist and the park’s carnivore keeper, Simon Faithfull is leading the charge.

“We’re calling the fundraiser Cuppa for a Cassowary, trying to raise as much money and awareness, using our two birds as the keystone species. It’s for an NGO based up in the Daintree Rainforest called Rainforest Rescue,” he said.

The Daintree is split into two regions, but one is currently safer than the other.

“The upper is protected under federal law, but the lower is all over the place,” Mr Faithfull said. “The Daintree is an amazing region of Australia, a biodiversity hotspot that’s home to the southern cassowaries.

“Rainforest Rescue is trying to buy blocks of rainforest before mining companies disseminate it and create wildlife corridors to link the lower and upper Daintree.

“They’re regenerating it through all the necessary vegetation that is found up in that region, and a lot of fruit trees as well.”

There’s an estimated 1500 to 4000 southern cassowaries in Australia, but they’re a very active animal that’s difficult to track.

Mr Faithfull said people rarely understand them, part of the ratite family of flightless birds.

“They move huge distances, picking off small native figs. They walk for kilometres and defecate.

“The digestive system can break down the fruit but not the seeds, so when they defecate you’ve got an amazing compost manure, regenerating the rainforest,” he said.

“We don’t have monkeys here. That’s one of the major roles of primates over in the new and old world, to regenerate rainforest. We have cassowaries.

“They’re quite unique animals, and when you get to know our two, they’re really charismatic.”

Over the school holidays, the park encourages families to visit their females, 24-year-old Zena, formerly of Cairns Tropical Zoo, and 2-year-old Echo, born at Perth Zoo.

“We’ve got donation tins around the park, and the idea is you can add a dollar to your coffee and put it in the donation tin. It’s a Cuppa for a Cassowary,” Mr Faithfull said.

“I have a young daughter who’s heavily involved with conservation, so I want it to be geared towards kids. They’re the next conservationists.

“If I can get the awareness out there with the young kids about how groovy these birds are and what people are trying to do, to me that’s more important.”

Today, Thursday 26 September is World Cassowary Day, with presentations, feeding encounters and a raffle with cassowary inspired prizes throughout the day at the Ballarat Wildlife Park.