Are cassowaries really monster killer-birds that disembowel people?

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I was sailing through the gallery and came across this really cheesy looking animal park in Florida called "Jungle Island". Among other things they have a morbidly obese white-handed gibbon that looks like it is living a typical 21st-century American lifestyle, and an animal show that seems to involve audience interaction with a cassowary (http://www.zoochat.com/844/cassowary-volunteer-audience-75801/).

My first reaction to this was horror, knowing the cassowary's reputation as an extremely dangerous animal with the ability to velociraptor-like rip open people.

My friend Ian Robinson posted some data on the thread (in the comments section) indicating that there is only one known fatality caused by a cassowary, and that was a stupid teenager who had been torturing the animal.

Where do cassowaries get their fearsome reputation? Is it a media myth like piranhas, wolves, etc. where the actual animal's reputation as a fearsome beast does not match biological reality? Are there lots of cassowary related keeper attacks that have occurred in zoos?
 
note that the information provided by Ian is from Queensland data where there actually aren't many cassowaries, relatively speaking. In New Guinea the birds have a great reputation amongst the natives as killers. Of course the New Guinea records are all heresay (no firm data) but it is from this island that the bird's ferocious reputation hails. I know I for one wouldn't be too keen to be on stage with the bird in the photo! (Especially because a lot of the aggression from Queensland birds comes from those that associate humans with food!)
 
A few years ago, a young trainee keeper was killed by a cassowary in an Us-Zoo and some tourists were also injured and even killed by tourists in the wild.

So not really tame or lovely birds...
 
Three comments occur:-

1. Personally, I would have had needed at least four beers before even THINKING of going on stage with a cassowary - they are not my idea of animals to get up close and personal with.

2. I wonder how many of the likely New Guinea casualties occurred as a result of hunting trips? Most animals will put up a fight when their lives are at stake!

3. Again, it doesn't strike me as good planning to have a young trainee keeper alone with a cassowary.

That said, I wouldn't dispute that these are beasts to treat with respect.

One parallel that does occur is with Black Rhino; as browsers, they are likely to be found in wooded country, where the chance of stumbling upon an animal by surprise is higher than in open country. We think of cassowaries and Black Rhino with more trepidation than we do Emu and White Rhino; is the preferred habitat a factor?
 
IanRRobinson said:
2. I wonder how many of the likely New Guinea casualties occurred as a result of hunting trips? Most animals will put up a fight when their lives are at stake!

That said, I wouldn't dispute that these are beasts to treat with respect.

One parallel that does occur is with Black Rhino; as browsers, they are likely to be found in wooded country, where the chance of stumbling upon an animal by surprise is higher than in open country. We think of cassowaries and Black Rhino with more trepidation than we do Emu and White Rhino; is the preferred habitat a factor?
Click to expand...


I have often wondered too how genuine the Cassowary's fearsome reputation is. I accept its strong feet and razor sharp claws are designed for defence, and the birds may be aggressive also. But how many incidents are, as Ian suggests- hunting related- simply the birds fighting back when cornered? I know they are regarded as dangerous in Zoos too, because of their (supposed?) aggression, and there have been accidents as mentioned, but is it common I wonder?

I would never ever trust one or want to go in with one, but apart from the claws and strong legs, are they that much more dangerous than the other ratites?

I have always believe Black Rhinos are more dangerous than whites because of their differing temperaments- Blacks seem more nervous, Whites more placid. As you suggest, the differing habitats they are usually found in may also play a part too.
 
Walter Rothschild, the founder of the Tring Zoological Museum, was obsessed with cassowaries and acquired more than sixty mounted cassowaries for his museum. (Only a few of these are currently on display in the museum.)

In addition to the museum specimens he also kept live cassowaries. Originally these birds were allowed to wander through the grounds of Tring Park. I am not aware of any attacks on people during this period but one attacked Walter’s father’s favourite horse; henceforth the cassowaries were confined to enclosures.
 
Last edited:
Tim May said:
Walter Rothschild, the founder of the Tring Zoological Museum, was obsessed with cassowaries and acquired more than sixty mounted cassowaries for his museum. (Only a few of these are currently on display in the museum.)

In addition to the museum specimens he also kept live cassowaries. Originally these birds were allowed to wander through the grounds of Tring Park. I am not aware of any attacks on people during this period but one attacked Walter’s father’s favourite horse; henceforth they were confined to enclosures.
Click to expand...

Never knew that- a very strange obsession indeed.

Still not doubting Cassowaries are(or can be) extremely dangerous in certain situations, but fact is often rather less interesting than fable.
 
IanRRobinson said:
Three comments occur:-

1. Personally, I would have had needed at least four beers before even THINKING of going on stage with a cassowary - they are not my idea of animals to get up close and personal with.

2. I wonder how many of the likely New Guinea casualties occurred as a result of hunting trips? Most animals will put up a fight when their lives are at stake!

3. Again, it doesn't strike me as good planning to have a young trainee keeper alone with a cassowary.

That said, I wouldn't dispute that these are beasts to treat with respect.

One parallel that does occur is with Black Rhino; as browsers, they are likely to be found in wooded country, where the chance of stumbling upon an animal by surprise is higher than in open country. We think of cassowaries and Black Rhino with more trepidation than we do Emu and White Rhino; is the preferred habitat a factor?
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, the trainee keeper has cleaned the emu exhibit with the emus in it and then, without the order and knowledge of the keeper, he started to clean also the cassowary exhibit, because he was thinking they are tame like the emus-he was wrong, but what's worse, he paid it with his life. Thats what I've read, but I can't remember in which zoo this tragedy has happend.
 
Pertinax said:
I would never ever trust one or want to go in with one, but apart from the claws and strong legs, are they that much more dangerous than the other ratites?
Click to expand...
bear in mind that cassowaries form pair-bonds and hold territories against other cassowaries, unlike ostrich, emu or rhea. I have no direct experience with cassowaries but I have many years experience with another pair-bonding territory-holding ratite, the kiwi. If kiwi were the size of cassowaries no-one would ever go into their enclosures!!

There's an interesting article here from the International Zoo News, from which I quote:
The Cassowary in Captivity
By the time these weapons [the claws] reach a respectable length, the cassowary inconveniently goes through a behavioral change, probably induced by puberty. The actual age varies from eighteen months to two and a half years, but when the time comes the puppy-dog adherence to humans changes to violent aggression against all and sundry - even the hand that feeds it. Despite long-term attempts to keep the birds tame, nothing I have been able to do has prevented hand-raised birds from turning into uncontrollable beasts.
Click to expand...
 
cassowaries may be more dangerous, but as there are many more Ostriches in captivity I think more people would have been killed by them. I only know one bloke who owns Ostriches and he was almost killed by one.
 
I suspect that cassowaries raised in zoos probably have no fear of humans, which would make them even more dangerous, especially a territorial species. I remember seeing a pair of cassowaries in the Toronto Zoo (Australian Pavilion); when the keeper walked down the corridor past the exhibit door the male's head appeared in the window and he started kicking the door with both feet. It was a metal door (probably for that reason) and had scratches and dents all over the bottom half of the exhibit side. The force he used to hit the door was quite powerful, and I have no doubt this bird would have been lethal had it ever escaped.

This was the most aggressive one I've seen. All the others in zoos seem to be as docile as emus or ostriches, but I'm not suggesting they should be treated as such.

:p

Hix
 
Having worked with Cassowaries for a number of years, there is certainly a basis in truth for their reputation. Like many animals, however, it is probably overstated. They are generally considered the most dangerous bird in the world, but this only works as a comparison to other birds (which, as a group, are rarely a physical threat to humans).

It is the male Cassowary who maintains a permanent territory, incubates the eggs, and raises the chicks. For a male who is a successful breeder, he will be aggressive year round - defending his territory to attract a mate, protecting eggs, then chicks; only leaving them to fend for themselves when the cycle starts again.

This behavioral trait combined with the potential to seriously harm humans does create a dangerous combination.

It is our protocol that staff are never in direct contact with Cassowaries, except in specific situations such as critical vet treatment. Not because it can't be done (it can), or because it's not industry practice (it is probably done at the majority of holding institutions), but because it is simply not worth the risk.

The animal in the photo appears to be a female (backed up by being called 'Mama Cass' on their website), with which I would be quite comfortable working with - providing I knew the individual animal and she had been properly trained; they can easily become very stressed by new situations or changes to their environment if they have not been conditioned extremely well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top