Capturing cassowaries for management and research

Human and cassowary interactions have increased due to urban development encroaching on cassowary habitat. Subsequently, there has been a rise in the number of management interventions for the translocation of aggressive hand-fed birds and treatment of sick and injured birds.

Cassowary experts have published a paper in the Australian Veterinary Journal on the safe capture, tagging and tracking of wild cassowaries for wildlife managers and researchers. The paper discusses appropriate sedation techniques, attaching satellite trackers and safe transition into transport boxes for relocation. You can download a copy of the paper from the Wet Tropics Cassowary Recovery Team's website.

Published: 04th Aug 2014