The wet tropical rainforests of north-east Queensland have the richest fauna in Australia. Although the region represents about 0.1% of the land surface of the continent, it contains 30% of marsupial species, 60% of bat species, 18% of bird species, 30% of frog species, 23% of reptile species and 62% of butterfly species in Australia. Some 54 species of vertebrates are unique to thearea. The mammal fauna includes 2 monotremes, 37 marsupials, 16 rodents and 34 bats. Nine species are endemic to the regions rainforests. These include four species of ringtail possum, Australia's only two tree kangaroo species, and the musky rat-kangaroo, which is the smallest and in many respects the most primitive of the macropods. The last two of the endemics, namely Thornton Peak ratand the Atherton antechinus have very restricted distributions which have been used as the basis for defining two centres of endemism for flightless mammals. 

Several species of mammals present are isolated from the major occurrence of the species in two cases by over 2000km. Of these isolated species, the spotted-tailed quoll is one of the largest and most ferocious of the carnivorous marsupials. Of the 33 species of bats present, nine are Australian endemics and one is locally endemic. This is the tube-nosed insectivorous bat Murina florium, considered to be the "rarest mammal recorded alive in Australia". The avifauna of the rainforests of northern Queensland is the most diverse in Australia. More that 370 species have been recorded of which 137 species principally inhabit the closed forests, including mangroves. 23 species are either endemic to the region or have their Australian distributions largely confined to this area. The majority of the 13 endemic species are confined to the upland rainforests. These include northern logrunner, little treecreeper, Atherton scrubwren, Australian fernwren, mountain thornbill, bridled honeyeater, Bower's shrike-thrush, tooth-billed catbird and golden bower-bird. Notable is the presence of the flightless Australian cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, one of the largest birds in the world. 

It is the only one of three species of cassowary in the world found in Australia. These wonderful, gentle ratites are solitary unless mating. Approx 200 species of rainforest plants need the cassowary to disperse the seeds through digestion! The largest land animal in Australia have been recorded at 300lbs and stood 6'6" [Royal Society of Qld-1892] They are NOT dangerous unless provoked by dogs. Now numbers are around the 600 odd and Carmel is directly responsible for having them listed as endangered in April 1999 by threatening to expose the Federal Government on the ABC 7.30 Report. Now the animal is CRITICALLY endangered as still nothing has been done to protect them. We give them less than 10 years in the wild before total extinction. Hunters, dogs and speeding cars through the unmanaged "protected areas" of the World Heritage Rainforests of FNQ are the worst and most insidious predominant inappropriate activities.