Cairns Post July 28 Thursday's Cairns Post ran a story about a young Bingil Bay Cassowary that was hit by a car early in the morning Friday 22 July.
The bird is believed to have been very badly injured as it was struck hard by the vehicle and was seen fleeing awkwardly toward the rainforest gully. It hasn't been seen since despite a search of the creek area by a crew of Queensland Parks and Wildlife (QPWS) rangers.
The approximately 18 month old bird is known in the neighbourhbood as 'Bernie' and was attempting to cross the Bingil Bay Road at a known Cassowary crossing area just north of a Council reserve at the junction of two permanent running creeks.
The bird is believed to have been very badly injured as it was struck hard by the vehicle and was seen fleeing awkwardly toward the rainforest gully. It hasn't been seen since despite a search of the creek area by a crew of Queensland Parks and Wildlife (QPWS) rangers.
The approximately 18 month old bird is known in the neighbourhbood as 'Bernie' and was attempting to cross the Bingil Bay Road at a known Cassowary crossing area just north of a Council reserve at the junction of two permanent running creeks.
Cassowaries can't avoid moving through people's yards and crossing the road to access their essential food in the Bingil Bay habitat linkages. The Council Planning Scheme map shows this section of road as a wildlife crossing area and recommends lower speed limits.
Cars and motorbikes often speed along this straight stretch of the road just west of a blind corner in the middle of the residential area of Bingil Bay village. It's a wonder there hasn't been an accident before now. Three other birds are also known to cross in the same area and children have to walk along the side of this narrow road with little or no verges to access the beach. Local residents have been asking the Council for many years to lower the speed limit.
You often see QPWS 'recent crossing' warning signs placed here.
In the weeks following the cyclone it was wonderful to see and hear reports from across the cyclone affected area that most of the known birds had survived. The first one to appear in this part of Bingil Bay was 'Joov' on 11 February.
You often see QPWS 'recent crossing' warning signs placed here.
In the weeks following the cyclone it was wonderful to see and hear reports from across the cyclone affected area that most of the known birds had survived. The first one to appear in this part of Bingil Bay was 'Joov' on 11 February.
Joov 'Joov', a six year old male, has been through two major cyclones surviving "Larry' as a chick still with his dad. I have watched him grow up and even saw him mate with 'Ms Cass' in 2009. It was wonderful watching as the couple, normally intolerant of each other, displayed very affectionate behaviour while they ranged together for about a month.
We thought we would see him with chicks in due time but a few weeks later he turned up alone. He then moved over to the other side of Bingil Bay Road and was seen with 'Barbara' during the the same mating season and again in 2010. He is currently seen with Barbara around Plantation Drive where there is a feeding station and the mating season is now in full swing.
This is his third mating season and although seen briefly with young stripies last year, he hasn't yet successfuly raised a chick. Whenever I see 'Joov', he will have crossed Bingil Bay Road to get here, and I've seen him several times crossing at the very place Bernie was hit.
We thought we would see him with chicks in due time but a few weeks later he turned up alone. He then moved over to the other side of Bingil Bay Road and was seen with 'Barbara' during the the same mating season and again in 2010. He is currently seen with Barbara around Plantation Drive where there is a feeding station and the mating season is now in full swing.
This is his third mating season and although seen briefly with young stripies last year, he hasn't yet successfuly raised a chick. Whenever I see 'Joov', he will have crossed Bingil Bay Road to get here, and I've seen him several times crossing at the very place Bernie was hit.
Bernie 'Bernie' appeared two days after Joov on the 13th Feb. I first saw him back in August 2010. He was a very shy young chick, still whistling occassionally for his dad, and moved from shadow to shadow in the dappled light of the rainforest hurredly foraging and looking for a territory of his own.
A year later he had managed to establish a place for himself and seemed confident in his surrounds. We were delighted to see he had survived the night of the cyclone that left his habitat in shreds. He crossed the Bingil Bay Road regularly.
The news of his accident is very sad and we hope we will see him again.
Blackie 'Blackie' turned up on April 21st. A young adult named because of it's dark appearance. It doesn't have any light markings forward of its eye. This bird spends a lot of time here now. I suspect this bird is close to it's first mating season and is a female. She is persevering with establishing this as part of her patch. I am not sure if she is accessing a feeding station but as with all the birds I see, she is healthy and her scats, although quite small, appear to be full of native fruits.
She balances her time between the visits of Joov and Ms Cass.
Several birds can access the same area foraging en route from one gully to another and mostly avoiding contact with each other.
Ms Cass 'Ms Cass' finally showed up on May the 9th, to our relief. A magnificent 11 year old female. She was observed with 'Joov' in his first mating year in 2009. She was constantly around before and following cyclone Larry but she is seen less often now. She makes an appearance several times a year for a few days and is always around when the white apples are fruiting. Unfortunately both the large white apple trees here were lost to the cyclone.
There was a lot of crashing and honking noises in the gully yesterday as 'Ms Cass' encountered 'Blackie'. She then stayed for hours just standing around at different spots letting 'Blackie' know who is boss.
She is known to Bingil Bay residents near Bicton Hill to the south and on the northern side of Bingil Bay Road. There have been times when locals waved traffic to slow down and let her cross the road during busy hours when workers are travelling to and from work.
It is tragic that these magnificent prehistoric creatures can survive a category five cyclone but they can't survive the threats we are directly responsible for. There has been 10 Cassowary deaths since Cyclone Yasi, most of those due to road death or dog attack.
There was a lot of crashing and honking noises in the gully yesterday as 'Ms Cass' encountered 'Blackie'. She then stayed for hours just standing around at different spots letting 'Blackie' know who is boss.
She is known to Bingil Bay residents near Bicton Hill to the south and on the northern side of Bingil Bay Road. There have been times when locals waved traffic to slow down and let her cross the road during busy hours when workers are travelling to and from work.
It is tragic that these magnificent prehistoric creatures can survive a category five cyclone but they can't survive the threats we are directly responsible for. There has been 10 Cassowary deaths since Cyclone Yasi, most of those due to road death or dog attack.
As the newspaper article says, each day there is no sighting of Bernie, hopes fade for his survival. What has happened to 'Bernie' must not be in vain. There is a simple and inexpensive solution to prevent another accident involving our precious endangered Cassowaries or dare I say it, a child on Bingil Bay Road. Reduce the speed limit to 50kph in line with the other villages at Mission Beach and install speed humps.
There is a petition at the Bingil Bay Cafe asking Council to lower the speed limit. The sad thing is that it was started because the local community feared Bernie was at risk crossing the road.
There is a petition at the Bingil Bay Cafe asking Council to lower the speed limit. The sad thing is that it was started because the local community feared Bernie was at risk crossing the road.
A new Council Planning Scheme is being developed right now. Mission Beach needs a special local plan or 'Master Plan' to address the many impacts development is already having on our natural environment. One of the considerations in a Mission Beach specific plan would be to develop a traffic management strategy to deal with not only the the amount of traffic already here but for the increase associated with the over 1100 residential blocks and hundreds of units that have been approved and the rest of the development that can still occur within the designated urban footprint.
If you would like to help please email Cassowary Coast Regional Council asking for the speed limit to be reduced and speed calming devices to be installed at the Bingil Bay Village.
Please enjoy the photos I took as I was privileged and delighted to follow Bernie's progress, hoping to see him mature to adulthood.
Liz
If you would like to help please email Cassowary Coast Regional Council asking for the speed limit to be reduced and speed calming devices to be installed at the Bingil Bay Village.
Please enjoy the photos I took as I was privileged and delighted to follow Bernie's progress, hoping to see him mature to adulthood.
Liz
