Donations - Cassowary Conservancy

Current or Upcoming Projects in Need of Funding

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Perimeter Fencing

It is becoming more and more imperative each day for us to get our 8 foot tall perimeter fencing in place.

This will not only prevent anyone from being able to cross over the current 4 foot perimeter fencing but beyond that, it will contain all ratites (Cassowary, Emus, Ostrich, Rhea) from escaping should a storm or hurricane knock down any exisiting paddock fences. With hurricane season already upon us here in Florida, we are past due for completion of this project!

To purchase and install 8 foot high perimeter fencing for our entire 18.77 acres is not a cheap or easy task. This project will cost at least $40,000 to complete.

Internal Fences

We have many new paddocks and internal fences to put in place in order to separate current animals and make specific home spaces for each type of animal. For example, our emus are currently in an extra large space that houses pigs, cows, and goats. This presents a problem when it comes to feeding as it is difficult to get a specific diet to a specific type of animal.

We use cattle panels for most of our internal fencing as it is virtually impossible for any animals to break open or get through, but it can also be taken down and reused without being destroyed. The ratites (Cassowary, Emus, Ostrich, Rhea) all require a minimum of 6 foot fencing and we generally use chain link for those enclosures.

We estimate our internal fence project will cost approximately $20,000 depending on the cost of the cattle panels at the time. In the past two years, cattle panel prices have skyrocketed from $19.99 each to $35.99 each. We are hoping to see that price drop, though I don’t think we should hold our breath…

Walk In Cooler

A walk in cooler is our ticket to saving time and money!

Cassowaries are frugivores: their primary diet is fruit. Our cassowaries are each offered at least 3 gallons of cut fruits with supplements daily. To be proactive, we prefer to cut the fruit for their diets a day in advance. This helps because their fruit is then ready to be fed in the morning with little preparation, which gives them plenty of time to go back and forth to their fruit pile throughout the day.

The problem is, at this time, we have nowhere to store all the cut fruit where it won’t rot (especially in the Florida summer heat!!), or where we can prevent scavengers like raccoons from getting into it.

A walk in cooler would allow us to keep cut diets fresh for days and would be like our very own fruit safe, preventing it from be scavenged by other animals! Our walk in cooler will cost an estimated $5000.

Security Cameras

Security Cameras are a necessity for the safety of the animals, that goes without saying. We currently have no cameras on site and would like to make sure we install an expandable system that we can add to in the future, focusing now on getting primary areas covered with cameras first.

We would also like you, our supporters, to benefit from these cameras! Once installed, we will have cameras available for online viewing of the cassowary enclosures so you can watch them going about their day while taking a break from yours!

The initial camera costs, wires and other supplies, and installation will cost approximately $3000.