There is growing concern over the number of cassowaries being killed by on the roads around the grey nomad hotspot of Mission Beach in north Queensland.
In the middle of last month, three of the giant flightless birds were killed in the ‘worst week on record’ in the Tully region. Two were struck by vehicles and the third was killed by a dog.
While caravanners and motorhomers who have been to the area will know that cassowary warning signs are a prominent feature of many local roads, there is a growing sense that more needs to be done. The problem can be particularly acute as the roads get busier during the peak tourist season.
The Queensland Government is now trialling a vehicle-activated electronic sign on the Tully-Mission Beach Road in a bid to reduce incidences of cassowaries being hit by cars. The signs will warn motorists they are in a known cassowary crossing area and light up when a vehicle is over the speed limit. The trial will run until the end of the year.
Cassowary Coast Regional Council Mayor John Kremastos told the Cairns Post that the signs near Lindsay Rd at Carmoo would encourage motorists to slow down.
“About 20 cassowaries have been killed on the road in that vicinity,” he said. “We welcome this move to help reduce car strikes on these endangered birds and the namesake of our region.”
Cassowaries are now found in three broad populations in Australia, two in Cape York and one in the Wet Tropics between Cooktown and Paluma Range. In recent years, cassowary habitat in the Wet Tropics have been greatly reduced by land clearing, and numbers of the endangered species have decreased sharply.
In the Mission Beach area, road accidents are the greatest single cause of cassowary death. Roads cut through cassowary territories, making it necessary for the birds to travel across them when looking for food. Birds can also be attracted to roads by people feeding them or throwing litter from vehicles..
An adult cassowary can stand up to 6’ tall and weigh more than 70kg. The southern cassowary is the world’s third largest bird and is closely related to the emu, ostrich, and kiwi. They play a vital ecological role by dispersing seeds in the rainforest.
Why are Grey Nomads being blamed for the deaths of these birds. Most of the Grey Nomads that I know normally drive much slower than the signed speed limits because they are conserving fuel, they are conserving their points, they are looking for somewhere to see, they are generally more conscious of their whereabouts.
Without evidence that Flo and Jo, 87 in their Winnebago were seen hitting a cassowary, why are Flo and Jo and their like being blamed. Possibly it is the young people on a mission to go to as many places as they can as fast as they can and be blowed if a little birdie is going to stop them.
The dry season may be when the Grey Nomads head north but it is also the time that southerners head north for the warmth.
Give us older people a break.
When one observes how the locals of all ages in this area drive then it certainly is stretching things to blame nomads. Double lines , speed limits and normal road rules are something for the tourists not the locals.
So is it a suggestion that these birds have been killed specifically by grey nomads? the article implies that this is the case. Has evidence been produced that actually implicates grey nomads to be responsible for the death of these birds?
Whilst this is an older article, I would like to comment on the same topic now – May 2018. We regularly visit the Bingil Bay – Mission Beach area visiting relatives. On our most recent trip we were delighted to sight several large males and a juvenile female. We always observe the speed limit around these areas and are extra careful around the more probable sites, however it is our experience to regularly come across young locals who are exceeding the speed limit and in a recent case as we were slowing for a cassowary, they sounded their car horn as they sped past cars stopped in both directions whilst we were observing the cassowary. These were not grey nomads but insensitive locals who felt that they did not owe anything to protect our lovely wildlife. Today, as we were travelling back home, I was very saddened to here that a cassowary was killed on the Mission Beach Rd – driver unknown.