Mission Beach's famous cassowary population will struggle in the coming weeks as fruit smashed to the ground during Cyclone Yasi begins to rot.
Their habitat in the wet tropics rainforests, that hugs the Mission Beach township, has been ripped to shreds and the canopy has disappeared leaving the endangered birds exposed to the elements.
Tully vet Graham Lauridsen said no doubt some would have been killed in the cyclone.
"We know that some of these cassowaries would have perished, especially at this time of year when there's lots of chicks around," he told AAP.
Now that the immediate threat of the cyclone has passed, possible deaths from starvation are not expected to be seen for another month or more, or when falling fruit rots away.
"In a month or six weeks time is when cassowary issues are going to take off big time," Mr Lauridsen said.
The state government said wildlife officers were due to visit the ground on Monday examining the cyclone's impact on cassowary rainforest habitat.
"We haven't made a clear decision about whether we will establish feeding stations again but of course it will be on the table," Queensland Environment minister Kate Jones said.
Bob Irwin, father of late wildlife warrior Steve Irwin, has also launched a campaign to save the cassowaries.
He said the Bob Irwin Wildlife Fund will work with community and government organisations to protect the birds.
The Mission Beach cassowary population which ranges anywhere between 40 and 200 is one of the most healthy in Australia.
They have become iconic for the region, and the local council even uses the name in its title, The Cassowary Coast Regional Council.
Locals are protective of the cassowaries and some are doing their bit to help.
Rob Jeffrey said the birds are highly territorial and he has been feeding one of two that live on his two acre property.
"I've been looking after the male but I haven't seen the female since the cyclone hit," Mr Jeffery told AAP.
"I know they're resilient. They've been handling this for the last thousand years."
Steph Curnuck owns the caravan park that backs on to a cassowary corridor.
She said all the locals love the birds even if they are not conservationists.
"I don't think I know of anyone, even if they're not part of the green scene, who wants to see harm come to them, they're such beautiful creatures," she said.
Huge road signs dot the road into the town every two kilometres telling visitors to slow down and avoid collision with the large birds.
Anneke Begraaf from the Save the Cassowary campaign said one of the dangers will be collisions with cars when the birds start straying to find their next feed.
"People will be pre-occupied on the road trying to organise their food and water and not paying attention to cassowaries," she said.
"The first priority is to get their lives sorted and after that the cassowaries will become a priority.
Another issue will be heat exhaustion. The big black birds now have little canopy for shade from the tropical sun, and waterholes used to cool down will have a lot of debris."
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