Creature Day

 

Here we are at another Tuesday and another creature this week we have the Cassowary.

A Cassowary stands as tall as some people and are considered by some to be Australia's most dangerous bird although many of us have never seen one except in a zoo.

They have a stretched neck, a scaly blue head with red flaps of skin that hang from its throat referred to as “wattles”. On top of its head is a most eye catching “helmet” made of toughened skin hard on the outside but spongy inside.

Males raise the young and will protect them at any cost, it has a 12cm long middle claw which can be used like a dagger to disembowel predators. Cassowary kicks are powerful enough to break bones and kill.

They are flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bones. Cassowaries are native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, the Aru Islands, and northeastern Australia. Three cassowary species are extant.

The southern cassowary is listed as endangered in the Wet Tropics region and with only an estimated 4400 cassowaries left in the wild, every cassowary is precious.