Cassowary: a bird with the blackest reputation as a killer (14 photos)

They say on the Internet that the cassowary is the most dangerous bird on the planet. This status was assigned to the bird in the Guinness Book of Records for 2004. They say that the poor people and animals of New Guinea live as if in the Mesozoic, under the tyranny of a distant ancestor of dinosaurs.





If a cassowary looks like this, it means it is angry. Or wants to reproduce. I don’t even know what is worse...

It is not difficult to believe that the cassowary is a feathered Jean-Claude Van Damme. This is the second largest bird on the planet. Up to 2 meters tall, up to 60 kilograms in weight - it inspires terror with its appearance alone! Among the native fauna of New Guinea, the cassowary is the second largest animal. In length, it is second only to the largest crocodile monitor lizards.



Grandpa, can you share your hammock?

And it looks so good that it could go to war right now. A long sharp beak, like an eagle, and on its paws are dagger-claws the length of a palm. It's time to register these as bladed weapons! The head is crowned with a hard leathery helmet, and dense plumage wraps the body like light armor.





Girl: comes to get her nails done. Woman: comes to sharpen her daggers.



One of the cassowary's claws is a 12-centimeter sharpening for self-defense and ritual fights.

The armed miracle runs at a speed of up to 50 km/h right through the jungle, jumps one and a half meters high and swims well. Thanks to evolution that it took away the ability to fly from these terminators and did not teach them to climb trees.



One of the most famous photos. But if you google it, you won't find any other pictures of a bird attacking a person. And here, it was obviously made angry on purpose for the sake of a good shot.

The cassowary has everything it takes to be the most dangerous predator in New Guinea and one of the most serious predators in Northern Australia. But here comes a small nuance. These birds don't crave meat and blood. Their limit is to gobble up a lizard or a gaping possum. Cassowaries are more into fruits!



Cassowaries are capable of eating and digesting even poisonous fruits and berries.

The birds spend most of their lives trampling around trees and picking fruit from them. What comes out of the cassowary gets back into it at least twice: the bird's intestines are short, and fruits are poorly digested. Often, the already eaten meal has to be sent back for reprocessing. As you can see, our blood is of no use to birds!



- Seryoga, don't swallow the apple whole, you won't be able to digest it! - I know!

Another horror story that is used to scare people on every first link is the nature of the killer bird. They say that the cassowary's roof goes down as it approaches its territory. And it blows off along with the house during the breeding season and the nursing of the offspring.



Either they fight, or they reproduce... Cassowaries are hard to understand!

Cassowaries are really sensitive parents. At least the male half of this genus. The male builds the nest, hatches a clutch of 3-8 eggs, and babysits the chicks. It takes the super-daddy about a year to do all the educational intricacies. Where is the female wandering at this moment? On the territory of the new suitor, of course! The cassowary ladies do not burden themselves with caring for their offspring. Usually, in the animal world, everything is the other way around!



— Dad, where's our mom? — She went to get some salt from Uncle Valera, she'll be back soon...

People have seen more than once how birds inflicted fatal wounds on hungry dogs or fought with their own kind, protecting chicks and eggs. But if you are not a bird and are larger than a dog, then the owner of the property will prefer to go into the bushes and carefully ignore the person. And such tactics bear fruit!



As you can see, people don't run away in fear at the sight of a cassowary. They calmly read and sunbathe! If a lion ran onto the beach, I think the reaction would be completely different.

In recent decades, cassowaries have been actively conquering the outskirts of cities and switching to a diet of meat, pasta, tomatoes and other benefits of civilization that they find in garbage cans. Which says a lot about their adaptability, but further distances them from the title of the most dangerous birds on the planet.



When I wanted to eat a watermelon after work, but it turned out to be unripe and tasted like chemicals.

And most importantly: you can understand the fake status of the killer by looking at the dry numbers. Due to the close proximity, people and cassowaries have friction, which flow into conflicts. Over 125 years of observations, about 400 cases of human injury have been recorded. This is enough for local residents to take their feathered neighbors seriously.



That's right, the car must move on the road.

But do you know how many people have died from the most dangerous bird in the world? Two people! Two fatalities in more than a century! These numbers seem ridiculous. Especially compared to ostriches: in South Africa alone, they are responsible for 2-3 fatalities per year!



Learning to defend yourself from cassowaries.

So, the dark aura of legends around the cassowary consists almost entirely of myths. But who then benefited from this PR campaign? First of all, the millions of tourists and travelers who have visited this region in recent decades. Returning home, they tell their friends and acquaintances tales about the most dangerous birds on the planet, with whom they lived side by side.



Well, now I want a photo like that too. Just without risking my life, please.

Secondly, the ornithologists of the 50s-80s, who cemented this stereotype in the scientific community. Maybe due to a lack of data, or maybe for the sake of cool headlines in newspapers - some of them talked about bloodthirsty and reckless cassowaries. They created a persistent myth that was difficult to eradicate even in the academic community. And it is still circulating in the media!