Australian Geographic - 09.2019 - 10.2019

September. October 39

Cassowary

plums.

The facts on

southern

cassowaries

Southern cassowaries are normally shy and harmless rainforest

birds. But during territorial disputes or when threatened, they’ll strike

out with their feet. They have a sharp elongated claw on each foot

capable of killing a large animal.

Southern

cassowary

distribution

QLD

Lama Lama, Umpila and Wik-Mungkan of the Coen region

of Cape York Peninsula; and the nine Indigenous groups rep-

resented by the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, whose lands

lie between Mission Beach and Townsville. Several of these

groups are now involved in cassowary conservation, using tra-

ditional ecological knowledge in concert with modern science.

Known as Kutini to the people around Coen, and Gunduy

or Gundulu to some groups further south, cassowaries are inte-

gral to Dreamtime narratives and traditional lore, and feature

in stories, ceremonies and dances. Cassowaries were also once

a valuable food source and played an important role in rain-

forest seed d isper sa l, helping to ensure a const a nt supply of new

fruit for people to forage.

Tim Jaffer, executive director of Kalan Enterprises, which

represents traditional owners around Coen, says that when they

began to think a decade ago about how best to manage the land

recently returned to them, one focus was the rainforest uplands

of the McIlwraith Range. “It’s where the creeks come from

and the rivers f low out of that [to] join the country up,” he says.

“Lots of bush materials are collected in the rainforest and there’s

lots of wildlife there and cultural stories associated with those

animals. The southern cassowary is one of them.”

Working alongside scientists such as David, Kalan rangers

have been involved in 15 or more field trips over six years that

have prov ided a n est i m ate of 170 – 40 0 ca ssowa r ies i n the ra nge.

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Casuarius casuarius

Originally derived from the Malay “kesuari”,

which comes from the Papuan words “kasu”,

meaning horned, and “weri”, meaning head.

SIZE: Adults grow to 2m tall; males weigh up

to 55kg and females up to 76kg. The heaviest

ever recorded weighed 85kg.

BREEDING: Cassowaries mate in

June–October. Females lay

clutches of 3–5 pale-green eggs

2–3 months later. Males brood

these for a further 50 days before

they hatch.

CHILDCARE: It was once thought

males did all the parenting, but there

are increasing accounts of females visiting

males and chicks.

DIET: Cassowaries have been

recorded to feed on at least

238 different plants. They

prefer fallen fruits, but will also

eat flowers and mushrooms as

well as snails, insects, fish,

crabs and other small animals.

FEATHERS: Cassowary feathers

differ from those of other birds in

that they lack tiny barbules to hold

feathers in shape and have a central quill that’s

split down the middle.

TERRITORY: Documented ranges

vary between 52ha and 235ha,

but can be much bigger.

ORIGINAL POPULATION SIZE: Based on the

amount of habitat lost in the Wet Tropics,

the cassowary population may have been

up to twice its current size before

European colonisation.

SEED DISPERSAL: By eating

rainforest fruits, cassowaries

play a major role in the dispersal

of seeds. In particular, they

are important for large-seeded

plant species.

FEET: Cassowaries have

dagger-like claws that can be up

to 12cm long, on the central of

the three toes on each foot.

When threatened, they can use

these to defend themselves,

jumping and kicking forwards

with both feet.

PHOTO CREDIT TOP: DAIVD BRISTOW; BOTTOM: DON FUCHS

September. October 39