Endangered: The Most Dangerous Bird on Earth
The Southern Cassowary may not be as much of a household name as its cousins the Ostrich and the Emu, but even though it is classified as “only” the third largest bird on the planet it has a less welcome claim to fame. Take a look at officially the most dangerous bird on the planet.
Ask a ten year old what the largest bird in the world is and the chances are you will get the right answer – the ostrich. Asked about the second largest and the odds are still very good that they will be able to name the Emu. Go for third place in the size league and you may well start to get blank looks from all but the keenest young ornithologist. The answer is the Soutern Cassowary – and not only is it endangered but is also classified as the world’s most dangerous bird.
The rainforest of the northeastern coast of Australia is home to the Southern Cassowary and as the third largest bird on the planet it is strange that its reputation is not greater. Certainly, it is a remarkable looking animal, almost like something out of ‘Jurassic Park’ with its large casque (a horn like crest which indicates age and dominance) positioned, dinosaur-like on its forehead. Estimates vary but it is thought that only around 1500 of this mysterious and ancient creature still survive in the wild.
Many female birds do not share the same brightly colored plumage as the male of the species. The female Cassowary, on the other hand, does and is stronger and bigger than the male. During the mating ceremony it is the male who takes the passive role and the female can take up to three different mates contiguously. The final partner she attracts will be the one to rear the young. That’s correct, after a month or so of courtship the female lays the clutch of eggs and removes herself from the scene. The hapless male is left to incubate the eggs and look after the young. He may never be able to request a DNA paternity test but nevertheless it is unlikely that all of the brood will be his.
Not only this, during the fifty days and nights it takes to incubate the eggs the male will most often lose up to about a third of his body weight as he cannot wander far to forage for food. They are, however, omnivorous although their preferred food is fruit. They will eat small vertebrates and invertebrates. When surprised this inhibited and diffident bird will choose to run – and boy can they run. They can run at speeds up to fifty kilometers and hour through dense rainforest. However, when they are cornered they can maim or kill people and have (rarely) done so. The Guinness World Record Book puts them at the top of the list of birds dangerous to man.
Most of its habitat has been declared a World Heritage rainforest and this charismatic and bizarre looking bird – often as tall as a man – sometimes finds itself in conflict with a rather more common ape-like mammal whose settlements extend right up to the edge of the rainforest. This of course would be man and when natural disasters occur, such as Cyclone Harry in 2006, much of the rainforest can be flattened and become useless for foraging which means that the shy Cassowary must go looking for food.
The Australians have a renowned sense of humor and this extends to the Cassowary. They represent a real danger on the roads around their habitat and there are many road signs that indicate that cassowaries might cross in front of traffice. Someone thought that the ‘before’ warning wasn’t sufficient and decided to engineer their own ‘after’ warning. This road sign probably has more effect that the more serious official ones, even if the recumbant and recalcitrant cassowary bears little resemblance to the real thing (at least they got the claws right).
The human inhabitants of the outlying towns do not hunt the birds but the reserved and somewhat timid nature of the bird means that both species easily become a danger to the other when they come in to contact. During the aftermath of Cyclone Harry four of the birds were found dead in a single township. That in itself is not a huge number but when it is considered that these were only the ones discovered and measured against their total population it becomes obvious that these birds and humans should not really mix.
When reduced to begging in enclaves of humanity, the birds can often lose some of the wildness. Although they never become tame they do become seemingly more docile towards humans and this can sometimes lead to regrettable accidents where the birds become frightened (they are naturally skittish) and do damage with their claws, one of which is almost five inches in length. Their inner toe in the medial position looks like a dagger. When panicked these birds have been known to kick – and sometimes kill – dogs and humans. Tall tales abound but there is little real evidence of this species being an avian equivalent to a ninja army or, for that matter, hunting people in a ‘Planet of the Cassowaries’ type scenario.
Although the danger presented by cassowaries is real it has been somewhat exaggerated and it is almost unheard of for one of the birds to instigate an attack. In the vast majority of cases the birds have been approached by people wanting to feed them. The birds suddenly panic and usually chase or charge their ‘victim’. Urban myths abound about the birds being able to disembowel a man with their claws. The last record human death by cassowary was in 1926. The claws however cannot do this – though they can leave a nasty puncture wound up to two centimeters in diameter.
It is hoped that with the right kind of intervention that the species can be saved. With cyclones of ever increasing severity and the pressure from human population threatening the bird, the Southern Cassowary is in dire straits at the moment. Even when it makes its incursions in to human territory it may find food but it will never be at home. Unlike the ostrich and emu, to which it is related, the Cassowary is most at home in the rainforest where the vegetation is dense and it can disappear from view quickly. By preserving and hopefully extending the rainforest it is hoped that this beautiful but shy species can be left to its own devices – and thrive.
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67 Responses to “Endangered: The Most Dangerous Bird on Earth”
On February 20, 2009 at 5:55 am
Ostriches things are awesome!
On February 20, 2009 at 6:51 am
theyre look good, the color are so bright…
On February 20, 2009 at 7:06 am
What a great article! Great pictures, great write. (When I saw the title, I was thinking that the most dangerous bird on earth is Batman’s nemesis, the Penguin. You’ve convinced me otherwise).
On February 20, 2009 at 7:35 am
They are quite attractive birds. To me they look like a cross between a turkey and a peacock. It would be a shame to allow them to die out. An excellent article.
Christine
On February 20, 2009 at 7:35 am
An interesting and colourful article
On February 20, 2009 at 8:10 am
watched something on tv about them last night, they didnt seem that dangerous, people were just walking next to them they didnt do anything!
On February 20, 2009 at 8:28 am
wow…
On February 20, 2009 at 8:44 am
This was a great article, reading about big birds always reminds me of my favourite post from this great blog:
http://animalsneedkisses.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/ostriches/
On February 20, 2009 at 8:45 am
Whoops: http://animalsneedkisses.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/ostriches/
On February 20, 2009 at 8:49 am
The photographer should have gone for a picture of the bird next to someone or something that could give us an idea of its scale. From the pictures, the bird could be as big as an ostrich or as small as a hen
On February 20, 2009 at 10:55 am
I actually managed to work out the rough sizing by looking at the grass and tree trunks, big bird
(not me the topic!)
Great work! I have never heard of this bird before, I learned something new here, thanks RJ.
On February 20, 2009 at 11:03 am
Save the Cassowary!
Great article, RJ
On February 20, 2009 at 11:13 am
they look delicious
On February 20, 2009 at 11:21 am
This is a great article filled with information. I think we all learned something today!
On February 20, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I seen the David Attenbourgh peice that he done on these it was funny they attacked him and the camera man….. good peice RJ nice job
On February 20, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I have heard the name before but this is the first time I have seen a Cassowary. I was surprised that it was so big and that there was another bird other than the Ostrich and Emu that was so large.
I learned a lot from your article and enjoyed it immensely.
Thank you
On February 20, 2009 at 2:46 pm
i stumbled upon this!
On February 20, 2009 at 4:11 pm
This is definitely the first time that I’ve heard about this bird. Very good and informative article.
On February 20, 2009 at 4:45 pm
They look like they could mess you up…..
On February 20, 2009 at 6:17 pm
so sad these are all endagered. nice article RJ
On February 20, 2009 at 6:20 pm
What a fantastic article! Well researched and very classy. You even gave the photographers their credit, which is a step above in some (unfortunately LOTS) of cases.
Cheers!
On February 20, 2009 at 6:33 pm
very cool birds. And what a great article.
On February 20, 2009 at 6:50 pm
How sad for these beautiful and majestic creatures. I had never heard of them before. Seems to me, it pays to be the female of the species. I hope they thrive as well.
On February 20, 2009 at 7:40 pm
I will add my name to the list of people who have never heard of this species before. I wonder if anyone has ever done a study to see if there is any correlation between endangered species and species where the male is left in charge of the progeny…?
On February 20, 2009 at 8:28 pm
What a fascinating species. It kind of looks like a species of dinosaur.
On February 20, 2009 at 8:40 pm
congratulations on another fabulous link RJ, beautiful pictures too. These birds are remarkable in their prehistoric appearance.
On February 20, 2009 at 8:50 pm
The second picture is awesome, I would like to do a painting of it, but I dont think anyone would realize it was a real bird, unless of course, they had seen this link! Stumble up!
On February 20, 2009 at 10:19 pm
One naturally thinks of a bird of prey, or the ostrich ( a good kicker too) as the most dangerous so fooled again:) Years ago I read that the Rhea is the third largest. Am going to go on the internet and see how they compare in size:)
On February 20, 2009 at 11:51 pm
surely, they are endangered.
On February 21, 2009 at 1:00 am
Very cool.
On February 21, 2009 at 2:59 am
Wow. Never knew that. It kinda reminds me of a dinosaur or something. (Just looked up and saw somebody thought the same thing)
On February 21, 2009 at 3:35 am
Such a shame we, as humans, have such a profound detrimental effect upon our fellow creatures.
Good, intelligently written article. Well done!
On February 21, 2009 at 6:20 am
I’m not sure I agree with the title… I’m almost positive that I used to dated the most dangerous bird in the world, she was definatly the moaniest bird in the world. :p
On February 21, 2009 at 6:39 am
Granted, it’s got a face only his mum can love, but it’s fascinating nevertheless.
Nice to hear that the men of the species is doing his bit for child-care.
On February 21, 2009 at 7:02 am
Great article. Enjoyed reading about a bird I haven’t heard before… good title as well… made me really curious to read the article..therefore..well done!
On February 21, 2009 at 8:32 am
Interesting, never heared of them before.
On February 21, 2009 at 8:58 am
Awesome article and great photos. This the first time to see this bird. At first glance it sure made me think dinosaur!
On February 21, 2009 at 11:06 am
Happy to admire these birds from a long distance.
Bold cap, and magnificent braids on the back of the neck.
Great pictures.
On February 21, 2009 at 1:58 pm
It’s a weird, weird world!
On February 21, 2009 at 2:45 pm
What a fantastic article! I love it!!! Jax
On February 21, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Fantastic article.
On February 21, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Very interesting R J. Had never heard of this strange bird before. Well done.
RJ
On February 21, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Although it is always nice to see articles focused on the endangered Cassowary, it is a shame you didn’t actually do any research but just cobbled second-hand information of dubious authenticity together to make a pretty article for your paper and its non-scientific audience. Casuarius casuarius johnstonii is the endangered Australian Cassowary. Other sub-species, outside of Australia, may be also be endangered but we just don’t know enough about the populations elsewhere. Many of the Double-wattled Cassowaries found in world zoos are not from Australia and probably two of your photographs are of different sub-species from the Aru Islands and New Guinea, C.c. bicarunculatus or maybe C.c. sclateri. The Northern Cassowary, Single-wattled Cassowary, C. unappendiculatus, is probably slightly larger than the Australian Cassowary and although the myth is continued in record books, the average female Emu, the sister species of the Cassowary, is not bigger than an average female Cassowary, at least not the ones (over 700) I have seen.
On February 21, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Well I am a non scientific audience or at least part of it. You did an excellent job RJ. The information was excellent as well as the photos. If I knew all of this I guess I shouldn’t be reading it. I really enjoyed it as 99.9% of the rest of the people that left comments did. Good going RJ
On February 22, 2009 at 12:14 am
Interesting – very nice article – - enjoyed this!
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
On February 22, 2009 at 3:40 pm
That was cool and great pictures.
On February 22, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Very scary looking bird.. Interesting.
On February 22, 2009 at 11:00 pm
RJ,
Until I read your article, I hadn’t ever heard of this bird before. The pictures were colorful, and you did a great job of writing this article. Seeing the first picture, I too thought it was another extinct animal from the dinosaur age. It absolutely amazes me how many different species of animals are now going extinct. Excellent job, RJ!!! Keep up the great work.
Randy
On February 23, 2009 at 3:28 am
I have never seen this bird before-live or on the TV-but I like the way it looks more colourful and great than dangerous.Thanks for sharing.
On February 23, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Very interesting, good content and pictures. I am now very interested in this bird.
On February 23, 2009 at 11:27 pm
they look like the turkeys…
On February 23, 2009 at 11:33 pm
i have seen this sign you posted
On February 24, 2009 at 3:55 am
I just got back from Northern Australia cassowary country by Cape Tribulation and Cairns. The locals loved warning the tourists of the birds, but yes sadly they are hardly seen in the wild anymore. The pictures in the article are great, but the birds can actually get really big; human-sized! There are some crazy cassowary encounters on youtube if anyone is interested as well…
On February 24, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Nice they look really funky.
Could you guys look at my stuff i have a really awesome poem in rememberance of 9/11 and some photos i really would appreciate it!
On February 24, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Great article pictures are great
On February 24, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Its red eyes itself makes it looks so dangerous,I never knew Ostrich can be so dangerous.Thanks for updating my knowledge.
On February 25, 2009 at 12:05 am
maybe one of the reasons why these animals are now endangered is that they’ve got soooooo cool features that make people want to keep them…
On February 25, 2009 at 9:09 am
I was in Cairns (australia) just 2 months ago, and went thru the rain forrest, we saw that exact sign, was pointed out to us by the Bus driver, funny stuff!
As for taking a photo of a Cassowary next to a human to judge its size, dont hold your breathe, these birds are VERY aggressive, not something that would pose for a photo with you…. more like scratch your face off with its raptor like claws
unfortunatley we didnt see any in the wild, but did see 2 in a bird sanctuary out in the forrest, very big birds, not much smaller than an emu, but bulkier in the body.
As a side note these birds build HUGE nests, they use them over and over, and when i say huge, i mean like 4-5 feet high by 8-10 feet wide… they stack leaves and sticks up like a little pyramid to lay the aggs in.
On February 26, 2009 at 5:31 am
Great ..pretty bird.
On February 26, 2009 at 8:38 am
dangerous but cool birds
On March 2, 2009 at 8:15 pm
lovely colors
On March 5, 2009 at 2:20 am
I will foreward this to my Welsh friends in Australia
On March 18, 2009 at 4:26 pm
how do they taste………?
i’m kinda hungry…..
On March 19, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Great pictures of some good examples of these very shy and aggressive birds. I have has the pleasure of taking photos of Cassowary’s when visiting Australia and other land masses. Having seen the damage these birds can inflict keeps one on guard when walking in the rain forests. The article is well written and has sufficient detail for the non scientific world. I don’t think this paper was intended to be a scientific paper but rather an article to enlighten the broad audience of the plight of these birds which I would assume are on the endangered list, or should be.
On March 28, 2009 at 10:43 pm
WHERE IS IT FOUND AT????
On May 14, 2009 at 6:06 pm
how do they taste? is it possible to keep them in captivity?
On May 30, 2009 at 9:21 am
What a strange,scary bird!
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