One of our ‘bucket list’ things to see and do when we moved up to Far North Queensland was to encounter a Cassowary in the wild. Well, we’ve been to the Daintree many times and sadly had no luck. We even live beneath the Macalister Mountain Ranges – a wild Cassowary protectorate… but since it’s off limits to humans, not much chance of seeing one there.

So, where to see wild Cassowaries up close and personal? Etty Bay is around a 2-hour drive south of Cairns (past Innisfail and en route to just-further-on Mission Beach). It’s an ‘off the beaten track’ location on the Coral Sea. To get there you drive off the Bruce Highway through impossibly beautiful emerald green hills dotted with palm trees and, as you get closer to the wild coastline, thick impenetrable jungle that tumbles down to the water. 

The Etty Bay Caravan Park was our spot for the night, tucked away in a tiny cabin which clearly, in a previous life, had been a shipping container. All mod cons, right on the beach. It was just us and several Grey Nomads for the night – plus some rather special guests that just happen to call Etty Bay home. 

Etty Bay is remarkably the terrain of a healthy population of wild Cassowaries. They reckon up to 100 live in the area and a few are seen daily wandering around the beach and the caravan park. And when I say wandering, they’re right beside you, suddenly, silently, out of nowhere, around the cabin and on the beach. They’re so used to humans here that they happily go about their business, foraging for wild berries, without a care in the world. I mean these birds are considered one of the most dangerous in nature and are known to be aggressive if they feel threatened or when defending their territory or young. They look like a dinosaur, velociraptors with feathers, standing almost 2 metres and weighing up to 76kg with their distinctive bony casque, a helmet-like structure on its head. It’s keratinous, like fingernails, and thought to be involved in social signalling, thermoregulation and protection. It has vivid aqua to electric blue neck skin and two red wattles that dangle in the breeze. It’s body is like a luxurious feathered coat, coarse and hair-like, giving it a shaggy appearance. It has powerful legs with huge sharp claws that could eviscerate an animal… or… me! Oh, and it can run at up to 50 k’s an hour. 

A sobering thought! 

So, it was with some trepidation that I approached them on the beach with the other excited caravan park residents – all of us stunned at just how close we could get to these ancient birds. 

The Cassowary is an endangered species with just 4000-5000 thought to be left in the wild, but then no-one really knows as much of its terrain in Cape York and New Guinea is wild and remote. So, seeing these two roaming so freely at Etty Bay was an unbelievable experience and one I’ll treasure for a long time to come. Or, until the next time at gorgeous Etty Bay that is. 

Cassowary Fast Facts