Clearly no one told this cassowary about the wildlife crossing

A hilarious photo of cassowary crossing Bruce Highway just metres from a $30m wildlife crossing has unified locals in a belief the cash would be better spent on more worthy projects.

The Bruce Highway at Smiths Gap between El Arish and Tully where works on wildlife crossing have begun. Picture: Arun Singh Mann

A hilarious photo of cassowary crossing Bruce Highway metres from a $30m wildlife crossing has unified locals in a belief the cash would be better spent on more worthy projects.

In the photo, snapped by Innisfail resident Duanne Stonehouse, a cassowary has managed to navigate around barriers designed to stop the endangered birds accessing the roadway and it appears to be checking out traffic control workers.

A hilarious photo of cassowary crossing Bruce Hwy metres from a $30m wildlife crossing has sparked fiery debate. Picture: Kelly Stonehouse

The irony being a $30m Bruce Highway wildlife bridge is under construction literally 150m up the road.

Kelly Stonehouse said her father sent her the photo on Wednesday that he took while travelling through the El Arish area.

“He saw the bird and happened to catch the cassowary on the side of the road trying to cross,” she said.

Following years of delays, it was recently revealed by the Cairns Post, the budget of the troubled fauna crossing project at Smith’s Gap has blown out to $30.7m.

In September 2019, $9.8m was earmarked for the Smiths Gap cassowary overpass and overtaking lane project that was initially due for completion in early 2021.

Construction of the Smiths Gap wildlife overpass taken last month on the Bruce Highway. Picture: Jenice Ward

The project has been widely criticised for being years behind schedule, millions over budget and many locals have questioned the positioning of the wildlife bridge.

“I think everyone can agree that this man made structure is a complete waste of time and money when locals have barely seen cassowaries in that area,” Ms Stonehouse said.

“And after this so-called cassowary/wildlife crossing structure there’s a Queensland Rail line, so go figure.

“There’s are a lot of other issues in the area like what are they doing for the feral pig population?

An artist’s impression of the Smiths Gap cassowary crossing.

“I’m sure they could have spent his money on other projects that would benefit the towns and animals.”

The Smiths Gap project was developed with input from cassowary advocate groups through the Cassowary Recovery Team and Transport and Main Roads commissioned the crossing after a Cassowary Conservation Management Plan in 2020 identified strategies for reducing road strike.

Construction of the fauna crossing is expected to be completed in late 2023.

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Originally published as Clearly no one told this cassowary about the wildlife crossing