The following information and
video footage/photographs (copyright of G-HAG) is being released by the Garners Beach Habitat Action Group (G-HAG).
G-HAG is an incorporated ‘not
for profit association’ formed by landholders and residents in the Garners Beach area after cyclone Larry to assist
in the survival and rehabilitation of cassowaries, which were becoming debilitated due to lack of food and access to feeding
areas.
Background to cassowary deaths
A Cassowary feeding program
was initiated by QPWS after Cyclone Larry following huge community pressure. Based
on the experience of Cyclone Winifred in 1986, supplementary feeding may be required for up to two years following a severe
cyclone event however, it was wound up after 12 months. From October 2007
it became increasingly evident to local residents that the already poor condition of the cassowaries in the Garners Beach
area was deteriorating further, and they required immediate assistance to survive. Various attempts were made by individuals
and by G-HAG verbally, by telephone, and email, to inform QPWS of the plight of the birds, but were met with no effective
response by QPWS.
Two chicks – the first
in the area since Cyclone Larry, hatched in November 2007 but disappeared before the end of December. When the chicks were
first sighted, Garners Beach Habitat Action Group informed QPWS of the concerns regarding the availability of food for the
chicks and the worsening physical condition of the adult cassowary population. As
of 22 January 2008, no reply has been received from QPWS. The chicks are now presumed dead.
Farewell Mario ~1960/2008 – the oldest-known cassowary at Mission
Beach
The death of the oldest
known cassowary at Mission Beach occurred on Thursday 10/01/2008. ‘Mario’, who was named by Cassowary-lover Frieda
Jorrisen, was the matriarch of the Garners Beach area and a minimum of 48 years old.
Mario died 60 meters from the Garners Beach Cassowary Rehabilitation Facility (GBCRF). The Centre was bequeathed to
the State for Cassowary Rehabilitation and Research by Frieda. It is currently managed by the Australian Rainforest Foundation
on behalf of Queensland Parks and Wildlife. Following the presumed death of the chicks, Mario became the third cassowary to
die within 500 metres of the Rehabilitation Centre, within five weeks.
Did Mario have to die this way?
Mario was found sitting in
a shallow pool of water in a roadside gutter. She was in a very distressed condition
and unable to move herself out of the water. Steven Garrad, resident caretaker
for Australian Rainforest Foundation at the GBCRF was informed by G-HAG members of Mario’s plight. He looked at Mario
and then attempted to contact QPWS personnel. In the meantime video footage of a local male cassowary, which was known to
have a long-term relationship with Mario, accompanied by a chick, was taken by a G-HAG member showing interacting with Mario.
(This footage is supplied with this release).
The local QPWS ranger
decided to leave the bird where it was. Overnight Mario managed to rise and stagger
closer to the tree line. QPWS representatives arrived at about 08:30 am and local
residents were requested not to enter the area. It is believed that Mario, the oldest known cassowary at Mission Beach, was
killed by lethal injection at about 11:00am on Thursday 10/01/2008. G-HAG has since been informed that Mario’s body
was disposed of, even though the Cassowary Recovery Plan specifically states (Section 3.2.4) – “Encounters with
injured, orphaned and dead cassowaries provide opportunities to conduct research into the health of wild birds including research
into the prevalence of disease and parasites…..Detailed post mortems of dead birds and DNA analysis can provide valuable
information on the species without causing further impact on wild populations.” Following initial autopsy investigations
that found that Mario had advanced Avian Tuberculosis (Bird TB), QPWS ordered that Mario be ‘disposed of’ and
that a biopsy be conducted.
Scientist’s Opinion of Mario’s death
In reviewing the video footage
of the dying Mario, cassowary researcher Les Moore has made the following points. “The effect of such a cassowary death
on the local cassowary social system must be appreciated as a traumatic event”. “There is cause for concern regarding
the potential level of disease within the Mission Beach cassowary population. Given the environmental stress following Cyclone
Larry it may be high. If it is a contagious disease(s), it’s possible the
chick and male are also infected. My worry is that other birds may be dying in a similar fashion within the forest i.e., we
could be seeing only those sick birds that die in visible areas outside of the forest.”
The Need for a Coronial-type Inquest
We believe that errors of judgment
were made by QPWS/EPA post-cyclone Larry, and specifically in relation to the recent death of Mario and the two cassowary
chicks and that the only way to avoid repeating this in the future is to properly address all the issues involved in protecting
this endangered species. Our preferred approach is for an open inquiry along the lines of a Coroner’s Inquest, by an
independent, impartial and well-experienced member of the judiciary – preferably a retired or serving Coroner. The issues
highlighted by the death of a significant member of a small, endangered avian community are of key importance to the conservation
of endangered species in north Queensland. As such, we believe that only an inquiry
of the utmost rigor and comprehensiveness would bring integrity to the management of endangered species in north Queensland. Over the centuries humans have developed a well-tried means of examining and getting
to the root cause of untimely and questionable deaths which is the coronial inquiry. The proposed Coronial-type Inquiry, together
with its findings and recommendations is intended to ensure that all management agencies are appropriately complying with
endangered species legislation. And it may become standardized into the deaths of Endangered Species in circumstances that
are ‘of concern’.
Issues that need to be addressed by an Inquest
1. What was definitively the cause of death of Mario - the tentative cause of Mario’s death is understood to be age-related
Avian Tuberculosis. Although Mycobacterium avian –
Bird TB, is always present in the natural environment, it normally does not kill wild birds unless they are debilitated or
environmentally stressed.
2. What were the environmental or other factors leading to Mario’s
debilitated condition – factors that need to be considered
relate to Cyclone Larry, which resulted in damaged habitat, inadequate fruiting, and high environmental stress.
3. A review of the Autopsy and Incident Reports by QPWS and ARF
- this would be the equivalent of a review of forensic reports
by medical and other authorities into human deaths by a Coroner as the basis for findings and recommendations.
4. Were the deaths of Mario and the chicks’ one-off type events, or were they due to systemic
inadequacies and failures - QPWS is the relevant responsible management agency but they appear to lack the
necessary expertise to establish and manage systems needed to ensure the survival and rehabilitation of Cassowaries generally.
And both QPWS and the Australian Rainforest Foundation (ARF), which manages the Garners’ Beach Rehabilitation Centre,
appear to lack the expertise, resources, and commitment to ensure the centre operates effectively.
Local residents, concerned
about a viable future for cassowaries believe that Mario’s death is a critical event in the survival of the cassowary
at Mission Beach. To again quote scientist Les Moore on this event – “The
bottom line is that Mission Beach has lost yet another breeding cassowary, one it cannot afford.”
Video footage sent as link
link to flash file
http://www.domainsau.net/flash
username: admin
password: eroom21
For Further In formation Contact
Kerry
Johnson – Secretary, Garners Habitat Action Group, PO Box 381, Mission
Beach. 4852 (07) 4088 6193 email.-johker2@bigpond.com
Richard DeRuiter
– President Garners Habitat Action Group, PO Box 108, Mission Beach 4852 (07) 4088 6668
