- Wet Tropics Management
- Legislative framework
- Management partnerships
- Sustainable Tourism Plan
- Threats to the Area
- Research and a Learning Landscape
- How can I help?
A privately operated cassowary rehabilitation facility has received approval from the Department of Environment Protection (EHP) to open on the Atherton Tablelands later this year.
Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles says the Lake Barrine-based facility will be just the second dedicated centre for managing sick, injured and orphaned cassowaries in Queensland.
“The work at the Tablelands Cassowary Facility will complement the government-owned Garners Beach Cassowary Rehabilitation Centre, which will continue to receive and treat sick, injured and orphaned cassowaries, for release back into the wild,” Dr Miles says.
The state government says it will spend an additional $530,000 to enhance cassowary rehabilitation and deliver jobs in tropical north Queensland.
“This funding has been used to create four permanent wildlife officer positions, based in Innisfail and Cairns, to deliver frontline cassowary services,” Dr Miles says.
Dr Miles says some of the government’s investment will go towards training wildlife officers, Rainforest Reserves Australia staff and volunteers, and community groups.
EHP received 241 reports of cassowaries in distress in 2016.
The facility is expected to open in April.
