Tropical Rainforest

Listed in 1988, the Wet Tropics extends from Cooktown through Cairns and Mission Beach to Townsville and covers almost 900,000 hectares. Included are many national parks and state forests such as Licuala State Forest, near Mission Beach.

World Heritage areas are outstanding examples of the world's natural or cultural heritage. The World Heritage Committee oversees world heritage listing on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Occupying just 0.2% of the continent the diverse rainforests around Tully and Mission Beach contain a large proportion of Australia's plant species, including 65% of fern species. They provide habitat for over half the nation's bird species, 60% of the butterflies and 36% of mammals.

Alongside stunning scenery Mission Beach contains stunning wildlife. Mission Beach is blessed with being the habitat of the endangered southern cassowary. Despite being a bird, the cassowary is Australia's largest land animal. It normally weighs about 60kg, but the heaviest recorded was a 94.5kg bird found north of Mission Beach in 1992. Females, which are larger than males, can reach 2 metres when stretched out to full height. Male cassowaries are the care-givers, sitting on the eggs for about 50 days until they hatch, and then looking after the chicks for around nine months.

Cassowaries can be spotted around Mission Beach walking through fields and paddocks, across roads, through resorts and often through locals' gardens. During Cyclone Larry much of the cassowary's natural habitat and food resources were destroyed which forced them to spread into urban areas more often. Malnourished, sick and injured animals have been rehabilitated at the Garners Beach Rehabilitation Centre just north of Bingil Bay.

Cassowaries are good swimmers and can cross deep rivers. They have been observed to go fishing by immersing themselves in water for around 15 minutes with feathers spread. They then emerge from the water, shake their plumage and eat their catch of fish!

Cassowaries are potentially dangerous and you should avoid taking unnecessary risks.  The Environmental Protection Agency suggest the following guidelines to help protect cassowaries and ensure your safety:

• Never approach cassowaries
• Never approach chicks - male cassowaries will defend them
• Never feed cassowaries - it's illegal, dangerous and has caused cassowary deaths
• Always discard food scraps in closed bins
• Always slow down when driving in cassowary territory
• Never stop your vehicle on the road to look at cassowaries
• Keep dogs behind fences or on a leash

Report cassowary sightings and incidents to your local Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service office.  For the Mission Beach area please phone 0427 126 602.