The Daintree Rainforest is the oldest rainforest on Planet Earth and one of Australia’s most incredible natural habitats. Wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest is the most ecologically diverse in the whole of Australia, making it a must-visit destination for wildlife and a nature lovers. Despite this, animals in the Daintree Rainforest can be difficult to find if you don’t know where to look.
We will explore some of the most interesting and unique wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest, guiding you to uncover the Daintree’s best wildlife destinations based on our experiences as two wildlife-obsessed zoologists and wildlife photographers exploring Tropical North Queensland.
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The Daintree Rainforest
The Daintree Rainforest has been standing since the Dinosaurs stilled roamed the Earth. Dated at ~180 million years old, it is considered the oldest rainforest on Earth. With such a rich ecosystem and a size of 1200(km)2, it is home to a huge proportion of Australia’s wildlife and has the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem in Australia.
All of this has cemented the Daintree Rainforest’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In fact, it is the only place on Earth where two world heritage sites meet – the Wet Tropics of Queensland (containing the Daintree Rainforest) and the Great Barrier Reef.
The Daintree ecosystem is one of the most valuable in the world. With countless rare and endangered species, it is a vital habitat for Australian wildlife. Home to around 40% of Australia’s birds and 30% of Australia’s mammals, you can see just how important this ecosystem is.
Check out our wildlife highlights video on our YouTube channel below…
Wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest
Birds
Birdwatching in Daintree is incredible and it is recognised globally as a top birdwatching destination. The rainforest is home to around 430 bird species, 13 of which are endemic to the Wet Tropics region, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world but here.
The most impressive bird, or animal for that matter, that calls the Daintree Rainforest its home is undoubtably the Southern Cassowary. If you needed proof that there are still dinosaurs roaming amongst us – watch a cassowary in its natural habitat. There, through the myriad of trees, you cannot help but be filled with complete wonder at the sight of this prehistoric giant making its way through the jungle foliage.
Like being teleported into a scene in Jurassic Park, the first time seeing an almost 6ft tall prehistoric bird wandering freely through this ancient rainforest is one of the most awe-inspiring wildlife encounters of our lives, and one we hope every wildlife enthusiast can experience for themselves!
Other Birds
There are an enormous array of birds and other wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest, including seven of Australia’s ten species of kingfisher, countless honeyeaters, drongos, friarbirds, riflebirds, doves, pigeons, pittas and hundreds of other species.
One really interesting species in our opinion is the Orange-footed Scrubfowl, which you will likely see and hear during your time in Daintree. Rather than building a normal nest, this bird builds an enormous mound where the eggs are buried and kept incubated by the soil. And when I say huge – the mound can be up to 15ft tall and 30ft wide, which is mind-blowing considering the scrubfowl is the size of a chicken.
Mammals
The Daintree Rainforest is also home to a large amount of mammal species. However, like a lot of the wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest, on the whole they can be difficult to see. The most sought after mammals, and ones we unfortunately didn’t manage to spot, are the two species of tree kangaroo that call this place home. These are the Bennett’s and the Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo, both of which are among the most interesting and unique animals in the Daintree Rainforest.
The Bennett’s tree kangaroo is the larger of the two and is found to the north of the Daintree River, whilst the Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo is found to the south of the river. Both can occasionally be seen in the rainforest canopies, with sightings of Bennett’s tree kangaroos sometimes occurring at Dubuji, Madja and Daintree Discovery Centre.
Other mammals you can see are red-legged pademelons, long-nosed and northern brown bandicoots, sugar gliders, musky rat kangaroos, swamp wallabies, Melomys and other a lot of others. We personally saw red-legged pademelons at Dubuji Boardwalk, and we also saw long-nosed bandicoots and Melomys at our accommodation when “torching” around the nearby rainforest area at night.
Another one of the amazing animals in the Daintree Rainforest, and a species you should definitely see for yourself, are the beautiful spectacled flying foxes. This large species of fruit bat can be seen hanging in their roosts during the daytime in multiple locations across the rainforest. With colonies at both Madja and Dubuji Boardwalks, you should be able to spot these during your time there. We personally found that the colony at Madja allowed for better views due to being slightly closer to the boardwalk which was raised to a similar level to where the bats roosted.
Reptiles and Amphibians
When you think of reptiles and amphibians in northern Queensland, there is none more iconic than the saltwater crocodile. This is without doubt the top predator of all the wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest. The saltwater crocodiles can be seen in many of the rivers, creeks and oceans around the Daintree. So like in all locations in northern Queensland, you have to be extremely careful and crocwise when doing anything near to any waterways!
In addition to the crocs, there are many species of snake, lizards, turtles and frogs in the rainforest, including Australia’s longest snake, the Amethystine python. We were also able to see a very cool saw-shelled turtle in one of the creeks below us at the Dubuji Boardwalk. Find out how to experience crocodiles and other wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest below!
If you are interested in seeing more of our wildlife photography of Australia’s wildlife, head over to our “10 Wildlife Photos that will Inspire You to visit Australia” post!
Fish
The Daintree is home to a series of rivers, mangrove swamps and ocean, and so there is lots of interesting aquatic life to be seen. The most interesting of these, in our opinion, is the banded archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix). These incredible fish have a remarkable superpower – the ability to shoot highly accurate jets of water at great distances to knock insects off their perch and into the water.
See the archerfish in action below on BBC Planet Earth III, which shows an Indonesian species of archerfish doing what it does best. This is definitely one of the most remarkable superpowers of the animals in the Daintree Rainforest.
Invertebrates
With 12,000 species of insects and an enormous array of other invertebrates, these make up some of the most interesting wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest. The most popular and striking insect associated with the Daintree is without doubt the Ulysses butterfly (Papilio ulysses).
The Ulysses butterfly is unmistakable when you see it for the first time. With a massive 10-14cm wingspan and its eye-catching electric blue iridescence, it is considered one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world, let alone in Australia. The best time to see Ulysses is between February and May, when you can see them flying around the many flowering rainforest plants. However, we still saw some when we were there in late July.
How to get to the Daintree Rainforest
By Car
The Daintree Rainforest is located in Tropical North Queensland, around 100km north of Cairns and 50km north of Port Douglas. In our opinion, the best way to reach and navigate the Daintree Rainforest is by hiring a car from Cairns.
There is no direct public transport to Daintree, and so accessing it without a car is extremely difficult unless you go as part of a guided tour. We travelled the majority of Australia’s East Coast relatively easily via the Greyhound Bus, but even that doesn’t operate beyond Cairns.
Because of the lack of transport, we made the decision to hire a car for the week and drove up to our accommodation in the Daintree Rainforest from Cairns, where we stayed inside the rainforest and used our car to explore every day. This is also great as it really allows you to have the flexibility to explore on your terms and give yourself a much better chance of spotting wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest.
If you are wanting to properly explore the rainforest, you will have to cross the Daintree River to access the north side of the Daintree Rainforest. In order to do this you will need to take the Daintree River Ferry, which is the only way to get across the amazing crocodile-filled river.
Where to stay
For our trip we stayed at an amazing backpacking ecolodge in the heart of the rainforest called Daintree Crocodylus. Being located literally within the rainforest meant that it is an ideal location for wildlife lovers, and we were able to see some really interesting animals on the premises. From our front porch alone, we saw Noisy Pitta, Northern Long-nosed Bandicoot, Fawn-footed Melomys, Giant Golden Orbweavers and a load more around the surrounding area.
Best Destinations to Find Wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest
Dubuji Boardwalk
The Dubuji Boardwalk, located in Cape Tribulation, is a series of boardwalks meandering through the harsh rainforest terrain. This ~1.8km loop makes your journey into the rainforest a lot easier than transversing through the mud and swamps.
Translated as “Place of Spirits” from the Kuku Yalanji language, Dubuji is a beautiful place and home to a lot of the best wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest. The trail takes you through many of the classic habitats of the Daintree, transversing across tropical rainforest, mangrove swamps, enormous fan palm forest and leading out of the trees to the pristine Myall Beach.
On your walk around the Dubuji Boardwalk, keep an eye out for cassowary, red-legged pademelon, tree kangaroos, spectacled flying foxes, saltwater crocodiles, and thousands of other remarkable species that can here.
Madja Boardwalk
The Madja Boardwalk is another of Daintree’s beautifully crafted nature walks which enables you to easily navigate the harsh rainforest terrain. This walk again takes you through beautiful rainforest and mangrove habitat, winding right through cassowary habitat. It is a brilliant place to spot some of the most impressive animals in the Daintree Rainforest and we completely recommend visiting Madja!
We were fortunate enough to see two cassowaries during our time at Madja and it was the location of our first ever cassowary sighting! Walk slowly along the boardwalks and really keep your eyes peeled and searching through the cover of the trees. Despite being enormous, the cassowaries can be extremely hard to see through the dense trees, even if they are only a few metres away. So you will have to really look out for them if you want to see them!
If you want to see some of the beautiful spectacled flying foxes that we photographed above, Madja is a great place. There are certain sections of the boardwalk where you can see large colonies of them roosting in the treetops above the boardwalk.
Daintree Discovery Centre
Again, like Dubuji and Madja, the Daintree Discovery Centre has another one of the Daintree’s beautifully crafted boardwalks winding through the rainforest. However, the Daintree Discovery Centre is actually also a more built-up ecotourism facility where you can learn all about the wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest.
You have to pay an entry fee to visit and there facilities include a visitors centre, rainforest boardwalks, a large canopy tower viewpoint, canopy walk, a coffee shop and a guided tour + booklet. It costs AU$ 39 per person to enter as of April 2024, and you have to book online in advance.
We didn’t personally visit the Daintree Discovery Centre as we opted to spend our time searching for wildlife at the other free locations. But the centre is a great place for those who would like to learn more about the rainforest, whilst still experiencing a beautiful nature walk with the chance of spotting wild cassowaries, pademelons, and so on.
Daintree River Cruise
If you are visiting Daintree, a cruise along the Daintree River is an absolute must. When you think of wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest and northern Queensland, there are none more terrifying than the saltwater crocodile. With some of the Daintree River’s crocs growing to 5m in length, you have to see these unbelievable prehistoric killing machines in person to truly appreciate them.
There are many amazing tour companies offering extremely safe and conservation-focused crocodile-viewing river cruises on the Daintree River. We personally went for the Solar Whisper Crocodile Cruise, and found it to be a truly amazing experience. Not only were we fortunate enough to see 7 crocs on our tour, as well as a great selection of the other animals in the Daintree Rainforest, but the guide’s passion, love and knowledge of the crocodiles was completely infectious and made the experience even more unforgettable.
Daintree Roads
One of the most common places to see cassowaries in the Daintree Rainforest, and one you need to be extremely aware and conscious of, is on the roads. You have a great chance of spotting cassowaries when driving through the rainforest, and it is probably one of the easiest places to see them due to the amount of open ground you can cover in your car.
You really have to be alert when driving around the roads in the Daintree Rainforest as cassowaries could cross at any moment. So it is essential that you keep your eyes peeled. And also, keep an eye out for any cars that have stopped by the sides of the road, as this is often your first sign that they have spotted a cassowary!
Whilst it is great that you can spot cassowaries on the road, it also brings up one of the most important things to keep in mind – drive extremely carefully! It is so important to remember that whilst you are driving, you are still in prime wildlife habitat. Cassowaries, tree kangaroos, pademelons and a whole host of other wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest are forced to cross these roads daily to reach other areas of the rainforest in order to forage or find mates.
We were fortunate enough to see cassowaries on multiple occasions whilst driving and fortunately all of them were safe due to all the cars driving sensibly. One of the encounters we had when we were driving back from Dubuji to Madja was of a male cassowary and its chick crossing the road together – which was incredible!
If you want a refreshment as you are driving along – make sure you visit the amazing Daintree Ice Cream Co. and Tropical Orchid! With a selection of unbelievable ice cream made from their own locally produced fruit, it definitely shouldn’t be missed! And they offer dairy-free flavours too!
Conclusion
The Daintree Rainforest is without doubt one of Australia’s most valuable habitats. As the most biologically diverse habitat in the entire continent, the Daintree is a must-visit to all of those interested in wildlife and nature who are travelling in Australia.
In terms of wildlife destinations, as with all rainforest and jungle habitats, it isn’t the easiest place to spot wildlife, but we assure you it is one of the most rewarding. It took us a few days of intensely exploring the main wildlife-viewing locations before we saw our first cassowary at the Madja Boardwalk. But there are certain locations you have to visit if you want to increase your chances of spotting some of the amazing wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest!
But before all of this, you have to get to the Daintree! And because there is a lack of public transport, it is definitely best to hire a car for your trip. This allows you to have the freedom to explore many of the different locations and areas of the rainforest, which would otherwise be almost impossible to do.
The best and most accessible locations to view wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest without a knowledgeable local guide, are the beautifully crafted boardwalks which enable you to easily navigate the otherwise difficult terrain. We recommend that you wake up early and head to one of the boardwalks to try to spot wildlife. Then once you have finished exploring that boardwalk, head over to one of the others and try your chances there. Eventually your hard work should pay off with some incredible wildlife sightings!
For spotting cassowaries, your best bet is to set out early in the morning and drive to Madja and Dubuji boardwalks. You have a good chances of seeing them at both of those, as well as on your drive to and from both of them. And you also have to set out on one of the amazing organised crocodile cruises along the Daintree River to witness the magnificent saltwater crocodiles! But we advise you to book this to start or end your trip as most run from the south side of the river.
We hope you have an amazing time exploring and admiring the amazing wildlife in the Daintree Rainforest. Please let us know your favourite destinations and experiences seeing animals in the Daintree Rainforest in the comments below!
Happy Travels!
If you will be heading along Australia’s East Coast and want to continue your wildlife watching adventures, don’t forget to check out our other guides on Australia’s wildlife! Including guides for spotting wombats, koalas, rock wallabies and much more!
