Bramston Beach vehicle struck cassowary ...The last hour of its life part 2

I sat in the rainforest with this injured bird and watched its strength ebb away whilst I waited for the Vet and EPA. I could not be angry at the driver as he was travelling at 100km/h (within the posted speed limit) and he had done the right thing and let me know there might be in injured cassowary in the area.
All I could feel was a heaviness and sadness that such a magnificent endangered keystone bird was probably going to be dead within an hours time. With her passing our Bramston Beach rainforest would lose some of its magic.

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 signs.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• cassowary
• death
• vehicle
• strike
• Bramston
• Beach
• ellabayforever
• Innisfail
• Ella
• bay

[despiertobx]

I think many 100 km/hr roads in Oz should be 80 - many human lives would also be saved. From what I saw, with the custom welded roo-guards and monster trucks- many plow through at 120 to150 with no regard for animals. But this is a special creature that requires extra attention. I met one at the Boulders several times - she was lovely.

[ellabayforever]

@despiertobx Valid comments and appreciated.They are a special animal indeed!

[deepfast125]

He trying to stop the pain with the ocean water.

Did he die at the end ?

[ellabayforever]

@deepfast125 a vet arrived and after she was tranquilised and we could see the extent of her injuries (leg snapped in half) she had to be put down. It was a sad day and our rain forest here is emptier without her. By the way the water was a rainforest creek and its coldness probably eased the pain a little, I hope it did.

[Snauzer67]

Cairns Regional Council should be ashamed of itself

[ellabayforever]

@Snauzer67 I am pretty disappointed with the actions of Cairns Regional Council as well. One excuse council engineers gave for refusing to lower the legal speed to 80 km/h in this vital cassowary/wildlife corridor was that it may not be policed. Yet during recent bridgework on this same area of road Cairns Regional Council did not hesitate to instal an 80 km/h speed limit to protect their workers! Once the bridgework was complete they then put the speed limit back to 100 km/h. I was lied to!

[Gearsparker]

I bet that cassowarry is pissed... If the man had lied and the cassowarry left to die a lingering death, he may have a chance of being fossilized for archaeologists of the distant future to discover!

[deepfast125]

@ellabayforever

Ok now she can't stay in the Nature anymore, so I think she is in a close place.

You are right it's sad, however you are doing a good job because these birds need to be protected.

[Snauzer67]

@ellabayforever Incredible!