Some of you may remember a series called ‘Steve Leonard’s Ultimate Killers’. This was the first major series I made with the BBC’s Natural History Unit in 1999-2001. One of the animals featured in that series was the Cassowary. This is a large flightless bird found in Australia, Papua New Guinea and a few other islands. It is the world’s third largest bird (after the ostrich and emu - who it is closely related to).
They live in rainforest and have a vital role in the health of the ecosystem by seed dispersal (some species of trees rely almost solely on the cassowary’s gut to germinate their seeds).
Cassowaries are excellent at defending themselves and their eggs from intruders as shown in the picture above. Unfortunately even though they are a protected species in their southern range they are still under threat from habitat loss, traffic and dog attacks. Their remaining habitat is split up into small isolated along Australia’s Northeastern coast. The Australian Rainforest Foundation (ARF) is trying to remedy this by working with land owners and farmers to regenerate forest links between the fragmented parcels that remain. This will allow the Cassowaries (and lots of other species) to migrate safely within forest cover, allowing populations to interbreed. Great hey!
The great thing about this project is that by utilising grants and savvy thinking this project aims to be completely self-sustaining.
I have agreed to be one of many ambassadors to these project. I met with Warren, the founder of ARF, whose passion and good sense won me over (even to the point of agreeing to wear one his hats). Cassowaries made a huge impression on me when I met them; their deep booming calls, their prehistoric look and their kung-fu moves. The world would be a duller place without them.
They live in rainforest and have a vital role in the health of the ecosystem by seed dispersal (some species of trees rely almost solely on the cassowary’s gut to germinate their seeds).
Cassowaries are excellent at defending themselves and their eggs from intruders as shown in the picture above. Unfortunately even though they are a protected species in their southern range they are still under threat from habitat loss, traffic and dog attacks. Their remaining habitat is split up into small isolated along Australia’s Northeastern coast. The Australian Rainforest Foundation (ARF) is trying to remedy this by working with land owners and farmers to regenerate forest links between the fragmented parcels that remain. This will allow the Cassowaries (and lots of other species) to migrate safely within forest cover, allowing populations to interbreed. Great hey!
The great thing about this project is that by utilising grants and savvy thinking this project aims to be completely self-sustaining.
I have agreed to be one of many ambassadors to these project. I met with Warren, the founder of ARF, whose passion and good sense won me over (even to the point of agreeing to wear one his hats). Cassowaries made a huge impression on me when I met them; their deep booming calls, their prehistoric look and their kung-fu moves. The world would be a duller place without them.
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