Northern Cassowary(Casuarius Unappendiculatus)
They are also known as the one-wattled cassowary, single-wattled cassowary, or golden-necked cassowary. It has hard and stiff black plumage, blue facial skin and a casque on top of the head. It has a bright red or yellow coloured neck and wattle. The feet are huge and strong with long, dagger-like claw on its inner toe. The sexes are similar. The male, at 30-37 kg, is smaller than the female, at an average of 58 kg, making it roughly tied as the third-heaviest living bird species after the common ostrich, Somali ostrich and alongside the similarly sized southern cassowary. These birds measure 149 cm long and stand 1.5–1.8 m in height. Compared to the southern cassowary, the northern cassowary has a slightly shorter bill, at 12 to 13.7 cm, but a slightly longer tarsal length, at 28 to 33.2 cm.
Habitat
The northern cassowary is distributed and endemic to coastal swamp and lowland rainforests of northern New Guinea and the islands of Yapen, Batantaand Salawati. They prefer elevations below 490 m (1,610 ft)
Diet
The Northern Cassowary is an omnivorous bird and therefore eats a wide variety of both plants and animals in order to gain all the nutrients that it needs to survive. Northern Cassowaries mainly feed on fruits that have fallen to the ground from the trees, along with leaves, grasses, seeds, insects, spiders and other invertebrates.
Breeding
In the breeding season, the polygamous female lays three to five green eggs on a well camouflaged nest prepared by the male; she then leaves the nest and eggs to find another mate. The male incubates the eggs and raises the chicks alone for about nine months.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as Least Concern(LC). Their population trend is declining and the number of mature is individuals is 10,000-19,999. It is suspected to be declining at a moderately rapid rate.
Threats
Cassowaries are heavily hunted close to populated areas and this species may be particularly vulnerable as it appears to have a preference for river floodplains which are more highly populated. As well as constituting a major food source for subsistence communities, it has a major cultural importance, including use as gifts in pay-back ceremonies and use of the feathers and bones as decoration and bones as tools. Hunting and trade is not sustainable in some areas and has led to its extirpation from some sites, as the species is traded at a sub-national level to supply markets in more densely populated areas. Cassowaries survive to varying degrees in hunted areas, dependent on the local culture and the availability of weapons and alternative meat-sources. Cassowary meat was frequently traded in local markets. Although logging roads open up previously inaccessible forests to hunting, most are in sparsely-populated areas. Habitat loss is currently the major threat.
Conservation
Conservation Actions Underway
A survey of populations in fragmented landscape in Papua New Guinea has been conducted in Madang lowlands in logged and unlogged areas and in Wanang Conservation Area.
Conservation Actions Proposed
Survey distribution of this species and C. casuarius in Vogelkop using camera-trapping methods. Gather demographic data on the species to inform sustainable harvest calculations. Research and quantify the effects of hunting, and use this information to inform community-based wildlife management providing local communities with sustainable catch quotas. Research and quantify the effects of logging. Survey extensive areas through discussion with local hunters. Develop a repeatable monitoring technique in protected areas. Monitor populations in protected areas. Campaign for non-hunting protected areas in Papua New Guinea such as April-Saulemei or Ramu lowlands. Use this species as a figurehead for establishing ecotourism-funded protected areas. Liaise with Australian research and action on C. casuarius.