36 Australian Geographic
Australia’s cassowaries aren’t as rare as we
thought but there’s still much to discover about
these enigmatic rainforest birds.
STORY BY JOHN PICKRELL PHOTOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN GILLIGAN
Jungle royalt y
The featherless neck of the southern
cassowary is brightly coloured in blues,
reds and purples, which are more vivid
in females. The two loose skin flaps
that hang below are known as wattles,
the function of which remains unknown.