Cassowaries on ABC 26 July (Sun) 7.30pm

I have been that busy photographing and writing about Ella Bay’s Indo-pacific humpback dolphins that I forgot to give you all a decent “heads up” about a cassowary documentary which is making its debut on the ABC 1.

It’s a documentary by Bianca Keeley called CASSOWARIES which I thought was a great title!

From what I can find out it is about cassowaries at Mission Beach post cyclone Larry.

So check it out on ABC 1 on the 26th July at 7.30 pm

Episode synopsis on the ABC website

William McInnes narrates this first feature documentary on Australia's giant, magnificent and endangered Southern Cassowaries as they struggle to survive when a once-in-50-year cyclone destroys their rainforest homes.

A cassowary looks like a living dinosaur; walks its territory and cannot fly and talks using sonorous sounds, mostly outside the range of human hearing. Plus, traditional gender roles are reversed, so that the male becomes a single parent for 9 - 12 months to chicks - some that may not be his own.

"It looks like something from Jurassic Park," remarks Maurice van Sabben, president of National Geographic Television International.

Filmmaker Bianca Keeley takes us on an action-packed journey deep into the Australian rainforest to reveal intimate and compelling moments in the life of a cassowary family. From mating season, to walking with a father and his chicks in the forest, to following a team that is saving cassowaries from the dangers of suburbia, this is a fascinating documentary.

Relocating to a sanctuary a cassowary which has powerful claws that can 'unzip' a person - according to QLD Parks and Wildlife biologist, Scott Sullivan - makes for dangerous work.

But even when these precious creatures are returned to the wild, scientists predict more severe cyclones due to climate change. Will there be enough rainforest left for these already isolated and endangered birds?