Cassowaries ( tpi, muruk, id, kasuari) are
flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'' in the order
Casuariiformes. They are classified as
ratites
A ratite () is any of a diverse group of flightless, large, long-necked, and long-legged birds of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Kiwi, the exception, are much smaller and shorter-legged and are the only nocturnal extant ratites.
The systematics o ...
(flightless birds without a
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
on their
sternum bones) and are native to the
tropical forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical fores ...
s of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
(
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
and East
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
),
Aru Islands (Maluku), and northeastern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
[.]
Three species are
extant
Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...
: The most common, the
southern cassowary
The southern cassowary (''Casuarius casuarius''), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary or two-wattled cassowary, is a large flightless black bird. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf c ...
,
is the third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird, smaller only than the
ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...
and
emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
. The other two species are represented by the
northern cassowary and the
dwarf cassowary; the northern cassowary is the most recently discovered and the most threatened.
A fourth but extinct species is represented by the
pygmy cassowary.
Cassowaries
feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly
omnivorous and take a range of other plant foods, including shoots and grass seeds, in addition to
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
,
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s, and small
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
s. Cassowaries are very wary of humans, but if provoked, they are capable of inflicting serious, even fatal, injuries to both dogs and people. The cassowary has often been labeled "the world's most dangerous bird".
Taxonomy, systematics, and evolution
The
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Casuarius'' was erected by French scientist
Mathurin Jacques Brisson
Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.
Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...
in his published in 1760. The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
is the
southern cassowary
The southern cassowary (''Casuarius casuarius''), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary or two-wattled cassowary, is a large flightless black bird. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf c ...
(''Casuarius casuarius''). The Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
had introduced the genus ''Casuarius'' in the sixth edition of his published in 1748, but Linnaeus dropped the genus in the important
tenth edition of 1758 and put the southern cassowary together with the
common ostrich
The common ostrich (''Struthio camelus''), or simply ostrich, is a species of flightless bird native to certain large areas of Africa and is the largest living bird species. It is one of two extant species of ostriches, the only living members o ...
and the
greater rhea
The greater rhea (''Rhea americana'') is a species of flightless bird native to eastern South America. Other names for the greater rhea include the grey, common, or American rhea; ema (Portuguese); or ñandú (Guaranà and Spanish). One of two sp ...
in the genus ''
Struthio
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...
''. As the publication date of Linnaeus's sixth edition was before the 1758 starting point of the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
, Brisson, and not Linnaeus, is considered the authority for the genus.
Cassowaries (from ms, kasuari) are part of the
ratite
A ratite () is any of a diverse group of flightless, large, long-necked, and long-legged birds of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Kiwi, the exception, are much smaller and shorter-legged and are the only nocturnal extant ratites.
The systematics ...
group, which also includes the emu,
rheas
The rheas ( ), also known as ñandus ( ) or South American ostriches, are large ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the order Rheiformes, native to South America, distantly related to the ostrich and emu. Most taxo ...
, ostriches, and
kiwi
Kiwi most commonly refers to:
* Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand
* Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders
* Kiwifruit, an edible berry
* Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency
Kiwi or KIWI may also refe ...
, as well as the extinct
moas and
elephant birds. These species are recognised:
Most authorities consider the taxonomic classification above to be
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
, but several
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of each have been described, and some of them have even been suggested as separate species, e.g., ''C. (b) papuanus''. The taxonomic name ''C. (b) papuanus'' also may be in need of revision to ''Casuarius (bennetti) westermanni''. Validation of these subspecies has proven difficult due to individual variations, age-related variations, the scarcity of
specimens, the stability of specimens (the bright skin of the head and neck—the basis of describing several subspecies—fades in specimens), and the practice of trading live cassowaries for thousands of years, some of which are likely to have escaped or been deliberately
introduced to regions away from their origin.
The evolutionary history of cassowaries, as of all ratites, is not well known. Genetic evidence suggests that their closest living relatives are
emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
s, and that the dwarf cassowary is more closely related to the Northern Cassowary than either is to the Southern cassowary.
A fossil species was reported from Australia, but for reasons of
biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...
, this assignment is not certain, and it might belong to the prehistoric ''
Emuarius
''Emuarius'' is an extinct genus of casuariiform flightless bird from Australia that lived during the early Miocene and late Oligocene. It is one of two known genera of emu. There are two known species in the genus, ''Emuarius gidju'' and ''Emua ...
'', which was a genus of cassowary-like primitive emus.
Description
![Darica Cossowary 00974](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Darica_Cossowary_00974.jpg)
Typically, all cassowaries are shy birds that are found in the deep forest. They are adept at disappearing long before a human knows they were there. The southern cassowary of the far north
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
rain forests is not well studied, and the northern and dwarf cassowaries even less so. Females are larger and more brightly coloured than the males. Adult southern cassowaries are tall, although some females may reach , and weigh .
All cassowaries' feathers consist of a shaft and loose barbules. They do not have
rectrices
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...
(tail feathers) or a
preen gland
The uropygial gland, informally known as the preen gland or the oil gland, is a bilobed sebaceous gland possessed by the majority of birds used to distribute the gland's oil through the plumage by means of preening. It is located dorsally at the ...
. Cassowaries have small wings with five or six large
remiges
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...
. These are reduced to stiff,
keratin
Keratin () is one of a family of structural fibrous proteins also known as ''scleroproteins''. Alpha-keratin (α-keratin) is a type of keratin found in vertebrates. It is the key structural material making up scales, hair, nails, feathers, ho ...
ous quills, resembling porcupine quills, with no barbs. The
furcula and
coracoid are degenerate, and their
palatal bones and
sphenoid bones touch each other.
These, along with their wedge-shaped body, are thought to be adaptations to ward off vines, thorns, and saw-edged leaves, allowing them to run quickly through the rainforest.
[.]
Cassowaries have three-
toe
Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plant ...
d feet with sharp
claws. The second toe, the inner one in the
medial position, sports a
dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...
-like claw that may be long. This claw is particularly fearsome, since cassowaries
sometimes kick humans and other animals with their powerful legs. Cassowaries can run at up to through the dense forest and can jump up to . They are good swimmers, crossing wide rivers and swimming in the sea.
[.]
All three species have a keratinous, skin-covered
casque on their heads that grows with age. The casque's shape and size, up to , is species-dependent. ''C. casuarius'' has the largest and ''C. bennetti'' the smallest (tricorn shape), with ''C. unappendiculatus'' having variations in between. Contrary to earlier findings, the hollow inside of the casque is spanned with fine fibres that are believed to have an acoustic function.
![Southern cassowary feet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Southern_cassowary_feet.jpg)
Several functions for the casque have been proposed. One is that they are a
secondary sexual characteristic. Other suggested functions include being used to batter through underbrush, as a weapon in dominance disputes, or for pushing aside leaf litter during foraging. The latter three are disputed by biologist Andrew Mack, whose personal observation suggests that the casque amplifies deep sounds.
Earlier research indicates the birds lower their heads when running "full tilt through the vegetation, brushing saplings aside and occasionally careening into small trees. The casque would help protect the skull from such collisions". Cassowaries eat fallen fruit, and consequently spend much time under trees where seeds the size of golfballs or larger fall from heights up to ; the wedge-shaped casque may protect the head by deflecting falling fruit.
The casques also may play a role in either sound reception or acoustic communication. This is related to a discovery that at least the dwarf cassowary and southern cassowary produce very-low-frequency sounds, which may aid in communication in dense rainforest. The "boom" vocalisation that cassowaries produce is the lowest-frequency bird call known, and is at the lower limit of human hearing. A cooling function for the very similar casques of guineafowl has been proposed.
The average lifespan of wild cassowaries is believed to be about 40 to 50 years.
Behaviour and ecology
Cassowaries are solitary birds except during courtship, egg-laying, and sometimes around ample food supplies. The male cassowary defends a territory of about for himself. Female cassowary have larger territories, overlapping those of several males. While females move among satellite territories of different males, they appear to remain within the same territories for most of their lives, mating with the same, or closely related, males over the course of their lives.
Courtship and pair-bonding rituals begin with the vibratory sounds broadcast by females. Males approach and run with their necks parallel to the ground while making dramatic movements of their heads, which accentuate the frontal neck region. The female approaches drumming slowly. The male crouches on the ground, and the female either steps on the male's back for a moment before crouching beside him in preparation for copulation, or she may attack. This is often the case with the females pursuing the males in ritualistic chasing behaviours that generally terminate in water. The male cassowary dives into water and submerges himself up to his upper neck and head. The female pursues him into the water, where he eventually drives her to the shallows, where she crouches making ritualistic motions of her head. The two may remain in copulation for extended periods of time. In some cases, another male may approach and run off the first male. He will climb onto her to copulate, as well.
Males are far more tolerant of one another than females, which do not tolerate the presence of other females.
Reproduction
![Casuarius casuarius -Artis Zoo, Netherlands -chick-8b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Casuarius_casuarius_-Artis_Zoo%2C_Netherlands_-chick-8b.jpg)
The cassowary breeding season starts in May to June. Females lay three to eight large, bright green or pale green-blue
eggs in each clutch into a heap of leaf litter prepared by the male. The eggs measure about – only ostrich and emu eggs are larger.
The male
incubates those eggs for 50–52 days, removing or adding litter to regulate the temperature, then protects the chicks, which stay in the nest for about 9 months. He defends them fiercely against all potential predators, including humans. The young males later go off to find a territory of their own.
The female does not care for the eggs or the chicks, but rather moves on within her territory to lay eggs in the nests of several other males. Young cassowaries are brown and have buffy stripes. They are often kept as pets in native villages (in New Guinea), where they are permitted to roam like barnyard fowl. Often they are kept until they become nearly grown and someone gets hurt. Mature cassowaries are placed beside native houses in cribs hardly larger than the birds themselves. Garbage and other vegetable food is fed to them, and they live for years in such enclosures; in some areas, their plumage is still as valuable as
shell money. Caged birds are regularly bereft of their fresh plumes.
Diet
![Double-wattled Cassowary or Kasuari (Casuarius casuarius)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Double-wattled_Cassowary_or_Kasuari_%28Casuarius_casuarius%29.jpg)
Cassowaries are predominantly
frugivorous
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...
, but
omnivorous opportunistically when small prey is available. Besides fruits, their diet includes flowers, fungi, snails, insects, frogs, birds, fish, rats, mice, and
carrion
Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh.
Overview
Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
. Fruit from at least 26 plant families has been documented in the diet of cassowaries. Fruits from the
laurel
Laurel may refer to:
Plants
* Lauraceae, the laurel family
* Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel
People
* Laurel (given name), people with the given name
* Laurel (surname), people with the surname
* Laurel (mus ...
,
podocarp, palm, wild grape,
nightshade
The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...
, and myrtle families are important items in the diet. The
cassowary plum
''Cerbera floribunda'', commonly known as cassowary plum, grey milkwood, or rubber tree, is a plant in the family Apocynaceae which is native to the region from Sulawesi to the Solomon Islands, including
north east Queensland.
Description
' ...
takes its name from the bird.
Where trees are dropping fruit, cassowaries come in and feed, with each bird defending a tree from others for a few days. They move on when the fruit is depleted. Fruit, even items as large as
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s and apples, is swallowed whole. Cassowaries are a
keystone species
A keystone species is a species which has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance, a concept introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in maintaini ...
of rain forests because they eat fallen fruit whole and distribute seeds across the jungle floor via excrement.
Role in seed dispersal and germination
![Cassowary faeces](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Cassowary_faeces.jpg)
Cassowaries feed on the fruit of several hundred rainforest species and usually pass viable seeds in large, dense
scats. They are known to disperse seeds over distances greater than a kilometre, thus playing an important role in the ecosystem. Germination rates for seeds of the rare Australian rainforest tree ''
Ryparosa
''Ryparosa'' is a genus of plants in the family Achariaceae.
Its native range stretches from Indo-China to north-eastern Australia. It is found in Andaman Is., Borneo, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Philippines ...
'' were found to be much higher after passing through a cassowary's gut (92% versus 4%).
Predators
Adult cassowaries have no natural enemies other than humans, but their chicks are vulnerable to large
python
Python may refer to:
Snakes
* Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia
** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia
* Python (mythology), a mythical serpent
Computing
* Python (pro ...
s,
monitor lizard
Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...
s,
New Guinea singing dogs, and
Papuan eagles. Adult males aggressively defend their chicks.
As for eating the cassowary, it is supposed to be quite tough. Australian administrative officers stationed in New Guinea were advised that it "should be cooked with a stone in the pot: when the stone is ready to eat, so is the cassowary".
Distribution and habitat
Cassowaries are native to the humid rainforests of New Guinea, nearby smaller islands,
East Nusa Tenggara, the
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...
, and northeastern Australia. They do, however, venture out into palm scrub,
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
,
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
, and swamp forest. Whether some island populations are natural or the result of human trade in young birds is unclear. They can also be easily spotted in some national parks such as Mellwraith Range National Park,
Paluma Range National Park, and Jardine National Park in Australia.
Status and conservation
![Road sign -Cairns, Queensland, Australia-26Oct2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Road_sign_-Cairns%2C_Queensland%2C_Australia-26Oct2007.jpg)
The southern cassowary is endangered in Queensland. Kofron and Chapman, when they assessed the decline of this species, found that of the former cassowary habitat, only 20–25% remains. Habitat loss and fragmentation is the primary cause of decline. They then studied 140 cases of cassowary mortality, and found that motor-vehicle strikes accounted for 55% of the deaths, and dog attacks produced another 18%. Remaining causes of death included hunting (five cases), entanglement in wire (one case), the removal of cassowaries that attacked humans (four cases), and natural causes (18 cases), including tuberculosis (four cases). The cause for 14 cases was indicated as "for unknown reasons".
Hand feeding cassowaries poses a significant threat to their survival because it lures them into suburban areas. There, the birds are more susceptible to encounters with vehicles and dogs. Contact with humans encourages cassowaries to take food from picnic tables.
Feral pigs also are a significant threat to their survival. They destroy nests and eggs of cassowaries, but their worst effect is as competitors for food, which may be catastrophic for the cassowaries during lean times.
In February 2011,
Cyclone Yasi
Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi () was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that made landfall in northern Queensland, Australia in early 2011, causing major damage to the affected areas. Originating as a tropical low near Fiji on 26 Jan ...
destroyed a large area of cassowary habitat, endangering 200 of the birds – about 10% of the total Australian population.
The Mission Beach community in far north Queensland holds an annual Cassowary Festival in September, where funds are raised to map the bird's habitat.
In captivity
The cassowary has solitary habits and breeds less frequently in zoos than other ratites such as ostrich and emu. Unlike other ratites, it lives exclusively in tropical rainforest, and reproducing this habitat carefully is essential. Unlike the emu, which will live with other
sympatric
In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...
species, such as
kangaroos, in "mixed Australian fauna" displays, the cassowary does not cohabit well among its own kind. Individual specimens must even be kept in separate enclosures, due to their solitary and aggressive nature. Territoriality is one of their most important characteristics.
The double-wattled cassowary (''C. casuarius'') is the most popular species in captivity, and it is fairly common in European and American zoos, where it is known for its unmistakable appearance. only
Weltvogelpark Walsrode
Weltvogelpark Walsrode, known as Walsrode Bird Park or Jubs in English until 2010, is a bird park located in the middle of the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany within the municipality of Bomlitz near Walsrode in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. ...
in Germany has all three species of cassowaries in its collection: single-wattled cassowary (''Casuarius unappendiculatus'') and Bennett's cassowary (''Casuarius bennetti''). If subspecies are recognised, Weltvogelpark Walsrode has ''C. b. westermanni'' and ''C. u. rufotinctus''.
Relationship with humans
Role in Papuan cultures and semi-domestication
![Coat of arms of West Papua](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Coat_of_arms_of_West_Papua.svg)
There is evidence that the cassowary may have been domesticated by humans thousands of years before the chicken. Some New Guinea Highlands societies capture cassowary chicks and raise them as semi-tame poultry, for use in ceremonial gift exchanges and as food. They are the only indigenous Australasian animal known to have been partly domesticated by people prior to European arrival and colonization. The Maring people of Kundagai sacrificed cassowaries (''C. bennetti'') in certain rituals. The Kalam people considered themselves related to cassowaries, and did not classify them as birds, but as kin.
Studies on
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
/early
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
cassowary remains in Papua suggest that indigenous people at the time preferred to harvest eggs rather than adults. They seem to have regulated their consumption of these birds, possibly even collecting eggs and rearing young birds as one of the earliest forms of domestication.
Attacks
Cassowaries have a reputation for being dangerous to people and domestic animals. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, American and Australian troops stationed in New Guinea were warned to steer clear of them. In his 1958 book ''Living Birds of the World'', ornithologist
Ernest Thomas Gilliard Ernest Thomas Gilliard (23 November 1912 – 26 January 1965) was an American ornithologist and museum curator who led or participated in several ornithological expeditions, especially to South America and New Guinea.
Gilliard was born in York, Pen ...
wrote:
The inner or second of the three toes is fitted with a long, straight, murderous nail which can sever an arm or eviscerate an abdomen with ease. There are many records of natives being killed by this bird.
This assessment of the danger posed by cassowaries has been repeated in print by authors, including
Gregory S. Paul and
Jared Diamond. A 2003 historical study of 221 cassowary attacks showed that 150 had been against humans; 75% of these had been from cassowaries that had been fed by people, 71% of the time the bird had chased or charged the victim, and 15% of the time they kicked. Of the attacks, 73% involved the birds expecting or snatching food, 5% involved defending their natural food sources, 15% involved defending themselves from attack, and 7% involved defending their chicks or eggs. Only one human death was reported among those 150 attacks.
The first documented human death caused by a cassowary was on April 6, 1926. In Australia, 16-year-old Phillip McClean and his brother, age 13, came across a cassowary on their property and decided to try to kill it by striking it with clubs. The bird kicked the younger boy, who fell and ran away as his older brother struck the bird. The older McClean then tripped and fell to the ground. While he was on the ground, the cassowary kicked him in the neck, opening a wound that may have severed his
jugular vein. The boy died of his injuries shortly thereafter.
Cassowary strikes to the abdomen are among the rarest of all, but in one case, a dog was kicked in the belly in 1995. The blow left no puncture, but severe bruising occurred. The dog later died from an apparent intestinal rupture.
Another human death due to a cassowary was recorded in Florida on April 12, 2019. The bird's owner, a 75-year-old man who had raised the animal, was apparently clawed to death after he fell to the ground.
See also
* ''
Corythoraptor
''Corythoraptor'' () is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian Nanxiong Formation of South China. It contains one species, ''C. jacobsi'', known from a single well-preserved skeleton, and named after paleontologist Louis L ...
''
*
Dromaeosauridae
References
Citations
Cited texts
*
*
*
* Cites "authorities" for the death claim.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Uncited text
* Rothschild, Walter (1899)
''A Monograph of the Genus Casuarius'' ''
Transactions of the Zoological Society of London'', vol. 15, pt. 5, December 1900.
External links
Images and movies of the southern cassowary ''(Casuarius casuarius)''€”
ARKive
C4 Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation€”Based in Mission Beach
Video: Cassowary with 3 chicks drinking water at Elantra Resort, Mission BeachCassowary videos, photos and soundson the Internet Bird Collection
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q201231
Extant Zanclean first appearances
Flightless birds
Higher-level bird taxa restricted to the Australasia-Pacific region