There are seven life-sized painted cassowaries scattered across Tropical North Queensland, and almost nobody visiting knows it. Every one of them is free to see, they sit at places you are probably going anyway, and there is a published map. It is one of the better free things to do up here, and it is quietly funding cassowary habitat work at the same time.
What the trail actually is
The Cassowary Art Trail launched on 8 October 2022 at Centenary Park in Kuranda, with the first three birds unveiled. It is a not-for-profit project started by Kuranda gallery owner Jurg Jutzi in partnership with the Kuranda Conservation Community Nursery, a volunteer group that has worked on the endangered Southern Cassowary since 1995.
Each bird is a life-sized fibreglass cassowary painted by a different artist, most of them Aboriginal artists from the region. Each carries fact panels about cassowaries and a QR code that takes you to the artist and the story behind that particular bird.
The project’s own line, in Djabugay, is “Bagarra maynggal, Mayi maynggal, Bunda:rra Maynggal”, which it translates as “No Rainforest, No Food, No Cassowary”. That is the point of the whole thing. Cassowaries disperse the seeds of dozens of rainforest tree species, and there is no substitute for them. For the living version, our Cairns wildlife guide covers where Queensland Parks says they are frequently seen.
Where to find them
The official map is at cassowarytrail.com.au/map, and the trail says all locations are easy to reach with free access. Here is how they group up.
In and around Kuranda, four birds
Three sit in the village itself, spread between the Heritage Markets complex on Rob Veivers Drive (also home to Kuranda Koala Gardens), Terra Nova Gallery on Therwine Street, and the Kuranda Village Centre. The Visitor Information Centre at Centenary Park is also marked on the map.
The fourth is a short drive out at Rainforestation Nature Park on the Kennedy Highway.
Being straight with you: the trail does not reliably publish which named bird stands at which Kuranda venue, and at least one has moved since 2022. Treat the village as a short wander rather than a checklist, you will find them all inside half an hour on foot.
The other three, spread wide
- Arrow, painted by Cairns artist Hayley Gillespie and inspired by the Red Arrow walk, at Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas
- Bimbi Djaruy, meaning “Father Bird”, painted by Corrin Skeene (Yirrganydji), at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures at Wangetti, unveiled December 2024
- Beautiful Beatrice, painted by Melanie Hava (Mamu, Dugul-barra and Wari-barra), at the Mamu Tropical Skywalk at Palmerston
The artists
The three original Kuranda birds are Bunda:rra by Connie Rovina, of KukuThaypan, Widi and Birriah heritage; Ma-Jilli, meaning “looking for food”, by George Riley (Djabugay); and Kuraptor by wildlife artist Rebecca Koller. The Guardian at Rainforestation was painted by Jedess Hudson and her father David Hudson, of Ewamian and Western Yalanji heritage.
Doing it as an actual day out
The trail is not a loop and it was never designed as one. Realistically it splits three ways:
The easy version. Kuranda for the day. Four birds, all within a short walk or drive, plus everything else the village offers. Take Skyrail or the Scenic Railway up and you have a full day without driving.
The northern add-on. Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures and Wildlife Habitat Port Douglas sit on the same run north up the Captain Cook Highway, so you can collect two birds on a Port Douglas day trip without any detour at all.
The southern one. Mamu Tropical Skywalk at Palmerston is a solid 90 minutes south of Cairns, so that bird is for people already heading to Innisfail or the southern Tablelands.
Chasing all seven in one day is not sensible and would mean a lot of driving for not much payoff. Collect them as you go.
A four-metre one is coming to Kuranda
The bigger news is the Big Cassowary, a four-metre statue approved for Centenary Park in Kuranda, adjacent to Therwine Street.
As at the end of July 2026 the statue was due to arrive in about two months, so late September or early October, with painting then taking six to eight weeks. Completion is expected toward the end of 2026. Six artists will paint it: Imogen O’Neil, Akasha Mead, Sheila Brim, George N. Riley, Ann-Marie Keating and Rebecca Koller, with Connie Rovina facilitating.
It is backed by a AUD $20,000 grant from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, awarded in the December 2025 round. The project’s total target is $90,400, and as at May 2026 it had raised $40,500. Two further stages are planned at roughly six to nine month intervals, adding eggs with an emerging chick, then striped chicks.
One thing worth correcting before you read it elsewhere: this will not be Australia’s first big cassowary. There is already one at the Cassowary Shopping Centre at Wongaling Beach near Mission Beach. The Kuranda one will be the region’s largest and the only artist-painted one.
Where the money goes
The trail funds itself by leasing the painted statues to host venues for a minimum of a year. Lease income initially funds the next statue, and the project says any eventual profit goes to conservation and revegetation run by Kuranda Conservation: habitat restoration, growing and planting cassowary food trees, research including tracking, and maintaining existing habitat.
So looking at them is free, and the venues hosting them have paid for the privilege. That is a rare thing in tourism.
Worth knowing
Statues move. The leasing model means a bird can change venue at the end of a term, and at least one Kuranda location has already changed since the 2022 launch. Check the official map before you make a special trip for a specific bird.
If you are travelling with kids, this works well as a low-effort scavenger hunt alongside our things to do with kids guide. And if you want more of Kuranda while you are up there, start with our Kuranda guide.
Sources: the Cassowary Art Trail and Kuranda Conservation; Big Cassowary detail from The Express, 29 July 2026; grant confirmed against the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund recipients list, December 2025. Statue locations can change, so check the official map before travelling.
