Animal Diaries Archive

Rocky The Cassowary

9 July 2004

The team kicked more goals this week including sectioning off areas in the wetland exhibit. Our game plan - separating our larger birds, which includes Jabirus and Brolgas, from some of their waterholes. This may sound odd however there is method behind our madness. We are planting out the waterholes with wetland plants and wish to let them become established before the birds are let lose on them. (They like to do a little gardening of their own which tends to involve uprooting anything and everything they come across). We will have our primary feathers crossed, hoping the plants last more than a week.

Of course, we are still chipping away at our new cassowary enclosure. Oh thrill, oh joy we started on the fencing this week! And if we knock it over by the end of month, we'll be dancing like Bruce the Brolga.

This week we would also like to introduce one of our real characters of the bird collection, another of our Southern or Double Wattled Cassowaries.

Drum roll... "Introducing... the handsome... the bold, the brave... and the hot blooded male cassowary... Rocky!".

'Rocky' named after the Rockhampton Zoo where he originated, has been with us for two promising years and is a very important member of our Endangered Species Breeding Program for cassowaries.

'Rocky' is 15 years old and in his prime. We have now paired him up with our largest, most impressive, some what cranky but absolutely beautiful female cassowary we call 'Stomp'. Their positive behaviour has us very excited and very hopeful this breeding season will be a successful one!