Bramston Beach Cassowary put down after being hit by car

At approximately 2pm on the 4 September 2010 a mature female cassowary was struck by a vehicle travelling at 100km/h on the Bramston Beach Road. The bird disappeared into thick roadside vegetation and the local man who was driving the car drove straight to my home and asked if I could help locate the injured bird. I found the bird in a nearby creek and contacted C4 representative Liz Gallie who in turn relayed information to the EPA and Innisfail vet Dr Tom Gough.
After tranquillising the Cassowary she was found to have sustained a severe leg injury and Tom Immediately put the injured Cassowary down.
My sincere thanks to Liz from C4 for her assistance which enabled me to focus on monitoring the injured bird and Dr Tom Gough who did not hesitate when he received the call and his prompt actions saved this bird from suffering any more than necessary.
I would also like to thank the local man who hit the Cassowary and ensured the bird was looked for as without his honesty this Cassowary would have died a slow and lingering death.
Cairns Regional Council are presently investigating this accident and are currently displaying a strong intent to reduce speed limits in Bramston's wildlife corridors and upgrade the local cassowary signage.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Bramston
• Beach
• Innisfail
• Cassowary
• Ellabayforever
• Ella
• Bay
• road
• kill

[ArtemisLiliths]

@ellabayforever

Poor cassowary, she must have been pretty far gone if she didn't even object to a human touching her.

It's good to know that she didn't have to suffer, and that the driver who hit her actually stopped and took responsibility.

By the way, how did you determine that it was female? As far as I know there isn't a lot of sexual dimorphism between the two sexes.

[ellabayforever]

@ArtemisLiliths the old bloke that hit her did the right thing alright as it would have been a nasty death if he had just driven on....made a mess of his car too! You are 100% re sexual dimorphism however females are larger birds and maled get a tail that hangs down more than females. She was also full of eggs.This girl was dissected in a british documentary that you can find split in 4 parts by searching you tube "inside natures giants Cassowary"

Thanks for your comments!

[lmjohnsono]

@ellabayforever Definitely good on the driver. And nerves of steel to get that close and touch a living Cassowary. Definitely going to watch the documentary. And I'll give an extra grape to our resident cassy next time I go back to do observations.

[ellabayforever]

@lmjohnsono Yeah The old bloke that hit her made a real effort to find me...I was in the scrub at home setting a trail camera but he wanted to be sure she was found. The doco is excellent and gives a real insight into the anatomy of these huge birds. Its sad to walk along the creeks she used and not see her tracks any more.Thank you for your comments :)

[gnarkillkicksass]

@ellabayforever You did the right thing by stopping. Unfortunate events will happen but unlike a lot of people (mostly backpackers and tourists) you did the best thing for her.

Well done.

[ellabayforever]

@PF718 Didn't really have much choice in the matter and just talked to the big girl and kept her company. It was pretty heartbreaking to see the severity of her injuries and know she had to be put down. If you look up Inside natures giants cassowary this bird was dissected on this series and it is well worth watching all 4 episodes! Thank you for your comments and kind message :)

[PF718]

@ellabayforever I would have had a hard time waiting for the vet to come, I don't know how you did it? Even if it's not a pet, I still worry for injured animals. Have a nice day!

[Aonexia]

I've been looking in the mirror for decades now... wondering these very things Ella; only to come up short when I see what the majority of humans are doing to our beautiful Earth.

To be quite honest with you dear it would take an outside force to curb this species to a grinding hault while directing us unto a much different path. One of greatness for this human species. The other choice is total irradication of the species before we destroy what they have painsfully created.

[ellabayforever]

@Aonexia we are a part of this beautiful world and though our species does have a nasty habit of killing off living creatures that we fail to value we are also capable of good and kind acts. It all starts with that person in the mirror!