Be Cass-o-wary!

The road through the Daintree winds its narrow way through the lower part of the rainforest. Despite the relatively light traffic (mainly tour buses to Cape Trib) and almost no road junctions, there are regular sections with a 60 kph speed limit and speed bumps. The road signs explaining why begin as soon as you enter the Daintree:

That hump-backed bird is the southern cassowary, a relative of emus, ostriches and rheas, and, like them, flightless. It occurs in Indonesia, New Guinea and tropical Queensland, with only 1500-2500 individuals in Australia - and decreasing. They live in the tropical rainforest, and one reason for their precarious situation - 'vulnerable' in the classification of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature - is the loss and fragmentation of the forest - originally through logging and clearance for agriculture, but currently continuing for residential and tourist development. Other threats include feral animals, especially pigs, raiding their ground nests for eggs, dog attacks, hunting, and - you guessed it - roadkill:



Probably the best known road sign combo in Australia

Not only would a collision not do much good to the cassowary, but also not to the vehicle: males are about 1.5 meters tall, and weigh about 35 kilograms, and the larger females reach 1.8 meters and 60 kilograms. It's the male who does all the work raising the kids: after she's laid the 3-5 eggs, the female leaves the male to incubate the eggs and tend the chicks from when they leave the nest soon after hatching until they become independent more than a year later.

Close encounters are not that advisable on foot either. The Guinness Book of Records lists cassowaries as the most dangerous birds in the world: they can deliver a double-footed kung fu kick powered by their large thigh muscles, deploying the 12 cm-long toe nails on the inner toe of each foot as daggers. Cassowaries don't make unprovoked attacks, but males will defend their chicks against all-comers. Warning signs urge people to be 'Cass-o-wary' - and not approach cassowaries, particularly males with chicks.

With all the signs on the roads, most toursist are keen to see a cassowary, but the chances of seeing one are tiny as they're shy and secretive birds. I'm resigned to the probability that I won't see one, but I'll keep the backpack handy all the same ...