Cassowary
What are they?
Cassowaries are a very large flightless bird, with a bare head and neck, a tall horny crest, and either one or two coloured wattles. It is native mainly to the forests of New Guinea. The cassowary has a horny helmet, called a casque, on its head. This helps it crash its way through the thick forest. The skin on the cassowary's head and neck is blue. Two long red 'wattles' hang down from the neck. The feathers on the body are black and look more like hair than feathers. The legs are thick and greyish, with three toes. The inner toe has a 12 centimeter claw-like spike, which is used in defense. Cassowaries can be dangerous when cornered.
Where are they located?
There are three kinds of Cassowary, two found in New Guinea and one, the southern Cassowary, found in northern Queensland. Their habitat is typically a tropical rain forest.
Why are they threatened?
A number of factors affect the Cassowaries survival. The major threats include the loss, fragmentation and modification of habitat, vehicle strikes, dog attacks, human interactions, pigs, disease and natural catastrophic events.
Cassowary habitat, particularly on the coastal lowlands, has been seriously reduced by land clearing for farming, urban settlement and other development. Urban development continues to threaten the populations that occur outside protected areas.
In the Mission Beach area, road accidents are the greatest single cause of Cassowary death. Roads cut through Cassowary territories, making it necessary for the birds to travel across them when looking for food. Birds can also be attracted to roads by people feeding them or throwing litter from vehicles..
Unrestrained and wild dogs are another major cause of Cassowary fatilities, particularly in areas near residential development. Chicks and sub-adults are small enough to be killed by dogs. However, packs of dogs also kill the adult birds, pursuing them until they are exhausted, then attacking them. Dogs also indirectly affect cassowaries through their very presence, influencing the feeding, movements and general behavior of the birds. Domestic dogs can also attack and kill cassowaries when they wander into suburban areas seeking food or water.
Pigs cause disturbance to the rain forest and compete with cassowaries for fallen fruit. They may also eat cassowary eggs and destroy nests. Pig control activities may also be hazardous to cassowaries, particularly when dogs are let loose to hunt pigs, and end up finding and attacking cassowaries instead.
Hand-feeding of Cassowaries is a risk to both birds and humans. Wild Cassowaries conditioned to human food sources can be aggressive when protecting themselves or their chicks, or seeking other human food. As birds become less wary of humans, they may become more vulnerable to dog attack and road mortality as they move around looking for food.
In recent years, cyclones have damaged large areas of Cassowary habitat, causing temporary food shortages. This may have placed further stresses on local populations already under threat from habitat fragmentation, dogs and vehicle strikes.
Actions of individuals in response to endangerment:
People can take action by being vigilant when driving as Cassowaries may tend to walk along the road because they found some food or just because they want to get to the other side. People can also take action by keeping their animals on leashes as they may hunt the Cassowaries down, another action could be to prohibit littering because they will end up eating anything they find and sometimes they are capable of choking on things such as plastics, which will end up killing them.
Actions of groups in response to endangerment:
Groups are conducting fundraisers, they construct organisations, and then place adds on the TV raising awareness. Groups have already started doing volunteer work by selling products to raise enough money for the cassowaries.
Cassowaries are a very large flightless bird, with a bare head and neck, a tall horny crest, and either one or two coloured wattles. It is native mainly to the forests of New Guinea. The cassowary has a horny helmet, called a casque, on its head. This helps it crash its way through the thick forest. The skin on the cassowary's head and neck is blue. Two long red 'wattles' hang down from the neck. The feathers on the body are black and look more like hair than feathers. The legs are thick and greyish, with three toes. The inner toe has a 12 centimeter claw-like spike, which is used in defense. Cassowaries can be dangerous when cornered.
Where are they located?
There are three kinds of Cassowary, two found in New Guinea and one, the southern Cassowary, found in northern Queensland. Their habitat is typically a tropical rain forest.
Why are they threatened?
A number of factors affect the Cassowaries survival. The major threats include the loss, fragmentation and modification of habitat, vehicle strikes, dog attacks, human interactions, pigs, disease and natural catastrophic events.
Cassowary habitat, particularly on the coastal lowlands, has been seriously reduced by land clearing for farming, urban settlement and other development. Urban development continues to threaten the populations that occur outside protected areas.
In the Mission Beach area, road accidents are the greatest single cause of Cassowary death. Roads cut through Cassowary territories, making it necessary for the birds to travel across them when looking for food. Birds can also be attracted to roads by people feeding them or throwing litter from vehicles..
Unrestrained and wild dogs are another major cause of Cassowary fatilities, particularly in areas near residential development. Chicks and sub-adults are small enough to be killed by dogs. However, packs of dogs also kill the adult birds, pursuing them until they are exhausted, then attacking them. Dogs also indirectly affect cassowaries through their very presence, influencing the feeding, movements and general behavior of the birds. Domestic dogs can also attack and kill cassowaries when they wander into suburban areas seeking food or water.
Pigs cause disturbance to the rain forest and compete with cassowaries for fallen fruit. They may also eat cassowary eggs and destroy nests. Pig control activities may also be hazardous to cassowaries, particularly when dogs are let loose to hunt pigs, and end up finding and attacking cassowaries instead.
Hand-feeding of Cassowaries is a risk to both birds and humans. Wild Cassowaries conditioned to human food sources can be aggressive when protecting themselves or their chicks, or seeking other human food. As birds become less wary of humans, they may become more vulnerable to dog attack and road mortality as they move around looking for food.
In recent years, cyclones have damaged large areas of Cassowary habitat, causing temporary food shortages. This may have placed further stresses on local populations already under threat from habitat fragmentation, dogs and vehicle strikes.
Actions of individuals in response to endangerment:
People can take action by being vigilant when driving as Cassowaries may tend to walk along the road because they found some food or just because they want to get to the other side. People can also take action by keeping their animals on leashes as they may hunt the Cassowaries down, another action could be to prohibit littering because they will end up eating anything they find and sometimes they are capable of choking on things such as plastics, which will end up killing them.
Actions of groups in response to endangerment:
Groups are conducting fundraisers, they construct organisations, and then place adds on the TV raising awareness. Groups have already started doing volunteer work by selling products to raise enough money for the cassowaries.
Actions of Governments in response to endangerment:
Governments can place adds on the TV and on the internet, they can put an end to all deforestation, culling and the cindividualauses that are endangering the animals. The Government can add some more learning about the cassowaries so that future generations have a better knowledge of the cassowary. The Government can also help fundraisers by donating enough money to make a sanctuary where the cassowaries can live in a happy and safe environment.
Two groups concerned with the status of the species
The organisation "Cassowary Recovery team" gives information about the Cassowary, it also gives you ways of protecting the Cassowary. The organisation gives you the option to donate, to adopt or to volunteer.
Governments can place adds on the TV and on the internet, they can put an end to all deforestation, culling and the cindividualauses that are endangering the animals. The Government can add some more learning about the cassowaries so that future generations have a better knowledge of the cassowary. The Government can also help fundraisers by donating enough money to make a sanctuary where the cassowaries can live in a happy and safe environment.
Two groups concerned with the status of the species
The organisation "Cassowary Recovery team" gives information about the Cassowary, it also gives you ways of protecting the Cassowary. The organisation gives you the option to donate, to adopt or to volunteer.
This is a map of where to find the cassowaries.