This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/11/cassowary-rehab-centre-in-queensland-gets-reprieve-from-state-government
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Cassowary rehab centre in Queensland gets reprieve from state government | Cassowary rehab centre in Queensland gets reprieve from state government |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Australia’s only cassowary rehabilitation centre, which had been earmarked for closure, has been granted interim funding by the Queensland government. | Australia’s only cassowary rehabilitation centre, which had been earmarked for closure, has been granted interim funding by the Queensland government. |
| Related: Birdwatch: Southern cassowary | Related: Birdwatch: Southern cassowary |
| In July Rainforest Rescue announced it would have to close the Garners beach rehabilitation centre, north of Townsville, once three birds in care were ready to be released into the wild. | |
| But on Tuesday the state government announced up to $50,000 in funding for the centre, which will take injured chicks for a further three months while a new arrangement is developed. | But on Tuesday the state government announced up to $50,000 in funding for the centre, which will take injured chicks for a further three months while a new arrangement is developed. |
| However, injured cassowaries may still have to be euthanised. During the three-month lifeline, only chicks will be accepted and none of the funding will go towards reinstating rangers, who have helped vets pick up birds in the past. | |
| Local vet Graham Lauridsen said he could be forced to euthanise adults on the roadside. He has the equipment to pick up chicks but does not have 24-hour access to the centre. | |
| “They [the birds] will have a centre but no way of getting them there,” he said. Even if the centre was to accept adults, Dr Lauridsen said he does not have the equipment to transport them safely. | |
| He has contacted the Department of Heritage Protection to highlight what he says are inaccuracies in a release announcing the funding, including that Rainforest Rescue had not been accepting adult birds. | |
| “There was an adult bird in there as recently as eight weeks ago,” he says in the email to the department. “The bird has since been seen mating with another cassowary on land close to where it was re-released.” | |
| The department has been contacted for clarification. | |
| Rainforest Rescue has been managing the centre since June 2014 but raised only $20,000 towards running costs. It announced last month the centre would close once three chicks now in its care could be released. | |
| The state government said it will take expressions of interest from organisations wanting to manage the centre in the long-term. | |
| The environment and heritage protection minister, Steven Miles, said: “Cassowaries are an extremely important species in far north Queensland for world heritage rainforests and tourism.” | |
| “It is important we work with the community to protect them.” | |
| Between 1,000 and 4,000 cassowaries live in the far north. Lauridsen estimates about 50 birds have been returned to the wild since the program started in 2001. It is thought nine have died on roads this year. |