In Focus - Cassowary

Status: Endangered

Geographic Region:  North-Eastern Australia, New Guinea and Aru Islands

Meaning of name: Papua New Guinea word kasu- meaning horned; and weri- meaning head

Habitat: Deep rainforest

Threats: Dogs, cars, habitat loss and wild pigs.

Left in Wild: 2500 to 3000

Cassowary at Australia Zoo

The Cassowary is the largest native land animal in Northern Australia, and the heaviest bird in Australia, weighing in at 85 kilograms- being generally 40 kilograms heavier than the Emu. There are three sub species of cassowary in the world, The Southern, Northern and Dwarf Cassowary. All three sub species are extremely shy and very hard to spot in the forest.

Cassowaries can live up to 40 years in the wild and have been known to live to over 60 years in captivity. The cassowary has many threats to its precarious existence with car accidents making up a large portion of their fatalities. Other threats include wild pigs eating their eggs, wild dogs hunting them for food and recent weather events that have devastated their habitats.

The most distinguishing feature of the cassowary is the bony looking horn upon its head. The horn or casque is actually quite porous, made of a spongy material covered with skin and will continue to grow for the cassowary's entire life. Not that you would want to get close enough to feel its horn as they are very dangerous and have been known to seriously injure, and in rare occasions even kill people with their very large claws.

Cassowary Feet - deadly weapons

Cassowaries are good swimmers and have been seen swimming in the ocean to escape dingos and wild dogs. They also swim across Northern Queensland's Daintree River to get from one side to the other. They do not have tongues and so drink by scooping up water with their bottom beak.  

Stu’s Zoo Pick for the Cassowary

Most Australian zoos and wild life sanctuaries have cassowaries and participate in breeding programs. Perth Zoo located in Western Australia has a great rainforest walk-through exhibit that showcases both the cassowary and its habitat. 

Australia Zoo

Other good opportunities to view cassowaries in natural-looking environs include the enclosures at Australia Zoo, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and  Dreamworld all located in South East Queensland in Australia. 

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

 © July 2013-Stuatthezoo.blogspot.com.au

Dreamworld

Location - Dreamworld Parkway, Coomera, Queensland, Australia

Entry Price - Adults $84.99AUD Children (3-13) $49.99AUD   Pensioner $49.99AUD

Opening Hours – 10am to 5pm Closed Christmas Day and Anzac Day 25^th April

Dreamworld web page

Layout

Front Entrance - Dreamworld

Dreamworld is Australia’s largest theme park with many attractions and rides throughout. The two animal attractions at this park are called Australia Wildlife Experience and Tiger Island.  Both attractions are located at the back of the park and are easily accessible from the Billabong Restaurant train station.

The Australia Wildlife Experience is divided into four sections called Koala Country, Outback Adventure, Kakadu Wetlands and Daintree Rain forest. This is where you can see, Kangaroos, Koalas, Crocodiles, Dingoes, Cassowary and many more Australian birds, reptiles and mammals.   A gift store, bathrooms and information desk are also located in this area.
  

Tiger Island is home to an impressive selection of Bengal and Sumatran Tigers. The Expansive enclosure has some unique viewing opportunities at both the main viewing section or at The Lair, for a more up close and personal experience.   

Extra Activities

Rides, rides and more rides is what this park is really all about. Recently Dreamworld has expanded to include their new Dreamworks Experience including a small but impressive Madagascar themed area which will please animal lovers and theme park riders alike.

For more animal related activities Dreamworld offers some unique wildlife experiences including walking, feeding and having your photo taken with the tigers. Two tiger presentations are held daily at 12 noon and 4 pm.   

Holding a Koala or Tasmanian Devil, Crocodile feeding and sunset safaris are also on offer at The Australia Wild Life Experience. 

Madagascar themed area in the Dreamworks Experience section

Breeding Programs
 

Dreamworld has an impressive Tiger breeding record and plays a significant role in helping reduce poaching of tigers in both Russia and Indonesia.

Dreamworld also participates in programs and funds helping the rare Bilby and the almost extinct Kroombit Tinker Frog as well as programs in helping the Koala and other Australian wildlife.

Bilby in a nocturnal enclosure

Stu’s Favourite Bit 

For me it was all about the Tigers, and Tiger Island did not disappoint. The tiger demonstrations are very informative and explain how Dreamworld is helping in the conservation of these beautiful animals around the world. The demonstrations also show you how they train the tigers for medical checkups and as part of Dreamworld's animal enrichment program. The demonstrations do get very crowded so make sure you get in early for the best viewing.

The enclosure itself is excellent with a newly incorporated section called The Lair where you can see the tigers up close including glass viewing areas where the tigers walk above you. 
  

Go HERE to see a selection of animals found at Dreamworld at Stu @ the zoo TV

Tiger jumping at the tiger demonstration

Stu’s review and tips

Being Australia’s largest theme park you will be spoiled for choice with activities, shows, rides and food but in my opinion the Australian wildlife section at Dreamworld is significantly below the standard of the other wildlife parks in South East Queensland. However chances are you are not going to Dreamworld just to see the animals - and for tourists it’s a good opportunity to see some of Australia’s wildlife whilst enjoying a day out.

I have been to this park several times over the last five or so years and the Australian Wildlife section seems to be deteriorating every year.  A couple of highlights in the Australian wildlife experience section are the Bilby enclosure and the ever popular Koala enclosure. Both are well done and up there with the best I have seen at any park.  The rest of this section just looks old and run down.  I get the outback Aussie theming but really, what is with all that rusted corrugated iron? And would it hurt to clean the glass viewing windows occasionally?
  

It really was all about the Tigers for me and that will always be the reason that I keep on going back to Dreamworld. It's a fun experience to go back and watch the cubs grow up.

Must See Animals
Tiger 
Cassowary 
Bilby 
Koala 
Kangaroo
Dingo 
 

Australia Zoo review

Location - 1638 Steve Irwin Way, Beerwah, Queensland, Australia

Entry Price – Adults $59.00AUD Children (3-14) $35.00AUD Pensioner $47.00AUD

Opening Hours – 9.00am to 5.00pm. Open from 1pm to    5pm Anzac Day 25^th April. Closed Christmas Day

Australia Zoo  Whats New in 2015
Australia Zoo web page 
 

Layout 

Australia Zoo started off as a reptile park in the 1970s and has slowly expanded over the years to include a reasonable selection of Australian, Asian and more recently African animals.  You can almost trace the zoo's expansion as you enter and explore the grounds. For example the front of the zoo near the entrance is all about reptiles- where you can find a selection of lizards, snakes, alligators, crocodiles, tortoise and turtles. A stadium style presentation area called the Crocoseum is located close to the reptile enclosures and is the site of their crocodile feeding display, held daily. Moving past the reptile section the zoo opens up to enclosures for koalas, kangaroos and a variety of indigenous Australian birds and mammals. Walking on towards the back of the zoo is the Asian animal section and the location of elephants, tigers and red pandas. Moving on even further is the location of the newest section to the zoo, Africa – where you will find giraffes, zebras and rhinoceroses.

Savannah in the African section of Australia Zoo

 The zoo has a selection of food and gift stalls throughout, with the main restaurant located near the Crocoseum. The paths are well signed and a shuttle service provides easy access to the main attractions via five shuttle stops.  The Crocoseum is also the location to collect your photos if you participate in any of the animal encounters whilst exploring the zoo. Free WiFi locations and ATMs are also provided at the main entry and Crocoseum.

Extra Activities

The zoo has a broad itinerary of shows, animal feeding experiences and talks throughout the day. If you only have a limited time to see the zoo, customised motorised caddie tours can be arranged. There are so many (free) hands-on opportunities to participate in that it is well worth planning your day prior to visiting.  

Breeding Programs

This is the home of the Crocodile Hunter, the late Steve Irwin and his commitment to conservation is still evident throughout the zoo. The zoo emphasis currently is on Sumatran tigers, Asian elephants, crocodiles (of course) and wombats. The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital is one of the largest wildlife hospitals in the world and takes in local injured wildlife.  It can be visited for a couple of extra dollars on top of your entry ticket.

On the 22^nd August 2013, Kaitlyn a Sumatran tiger at the zoo gave birth to two cubs, Clarence and Hunter. The first in the zoos history. For more info follow this Link...   

Stu’s Favourite Bit

I loved the new African section and although it is still a work in progress with a new cheetah enclosure currently being built, with so much room for development this section is only going to get better. The savannah enclosure is spectacular with sweeping grasslands housing giraffes, zebras and rhinos. No matter what else they do to this section the savannah will be the centerpiece and dominate the view. I was also lucky enough to see the new baby rhino explore the mud pools located on the savannah on the day I visited.

Go HERE to see a selection of animals found at Australia Zoo at Stu @ the zoo TV

Feeding time for the new baby rhino

Stu’s review and tips

Australia Zoo has been expanding steadily in the last 10 years from an Australian wildlife park to a fully-fledged zoo and currently does not have a huge variety of animals that can be found at a lot of the big world zoos. For example they don’t house any primates, and apart from Australian animals have only a limited selection of African and Asian Animals. What they do have are some of the most spectacular enclosures I have ever seen in any zoo. In fact there is so much that is high-quality about this zoo that it is impossible for me to describe how impressed I was in just a few paragraphs.

Tiger Temple in the Asian section of the zoo is impressively themed. The tigers have a large space to roam that includes deep pools to swim in, platforms to sleep on and expansive grassed areas to run and play on. The theming leading into the temple certainly sets the mood as does the theming throughout the entire Asia section. You can feed the two Asian elephants at 10.30 in the morning and 3.00 in the afternoon. There is no extra charge for this experience. 

Some of the theming at Tiger Temple

 Water features and art work are impressive inclusions to the already beautiful gardens.  All of the paths are well signed making getting around this clean zoo very easy. I would suggest that if you’re not too keen on walking, that you hop on the zoo shuttle at station number one near the entry of the zoo and ride it to station number five in Africa. The zoo is not a complete walking loop, and this will save you from walking all the way to the end of the zoo only to have to turn around and walk the same path back. 

Water feature at the Kangaroo & Wallaby Walk through

The main show held at the Crocoseum at 12 noon daily is a lot of fun and includes birds, snakes and crocodiles - and comes as part of your entry price. Apart from the excellent shows held throughout the park, the zoo also anticipates crowd movement by having keepers with animals stationed at key locations during the day. This is a great opportunity to get up close to koalas, baby crocodiles, snakes,  camels and some interesting birds. You may even catch a wombat or cheetah being taken for their daily walk on a lead. 

Crowd participation at the Crocoseum

The memory of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter, is still a central part of Australia Zoo with images, statues and memorial displays looming large. Although like so many other people I admired Steve Irwin for his contagious enthusiasm in the pursuit of conservation it did get a little cringe-worthy  when I saw talking Crocodile Hunter dolls for sale at the gift store.

I think Australia Zoo has found the perfect formula to be one of the world’s great zoos. Animal-friendly enclosures, entertaining informative shows, hands-on animal experiences, friendly staff all in a well-designed environment combine to make a modern zoo experience and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Must See Animals 

Tiger 
Lemur
Red Panda 
Zebra 
Giraffe 
Cheetah 
Crocodile
Python 
Birds 
Rhino 
Koala 
Cassowary 
Tasmanian Devil
Kangaroo 
Wombat 



 


 © June 2013-Stuatthezoo.blogspot.com.au