Southern Cassowary(Casuarius Casuarius)
They are also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary or two-wattled cassowary. They are a flightless bird. The southern cassowary has stiff, bristly black plumage, a blue face and long neck, red on the cape and two red wattles measuring around 17.8 cm in length hanging down around its throat. A horn-like brown casque, measuring 13-16.9 cm high, sits atop the head. The bill can range from 9.8-19 cm.
The three-toed feet are thick and powerful, equipped with a lethal dagger-like claw up to 12 cm on the inner toe. The plumage is sexually monomorphic, but the female is dominant and larger with a longer casque, larger bill and brighter-coloured bare parts. The juveniles have brown longitudinal striped plumage. It is perhaps the largest member of the cassowary family and is tied as the second heaviest bird on earth, at a maximum size estimated at 85 kg and 190 cm tall. Normally, this species ranges from 127-170 cm in length. The height is normally 1.5-1.8 m; females average 58.5 kg, while males average 29-34 kg. The northern cassowary is about the same size on average and is perhaps very mildly less sexually dimorphic than the southern. Most adult birds will weigh between 17-70 kg.
Habitat
Southern cassowaries occur in New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. This bird lives in rainforests, although it can be found in nearby mangroves, savanna and fruit plantations.
Diet
Southern cassowaries are herbivores (frugivores), they mainly eat fallen fruits, and they also consume invertebrates, small vertebrates and carrion.
Breeding
These birds are polyandrous; a female mates with more than one male, and disappears straight after she has laid the eggs, starting a new nest each time. Courtship by the male consists of calling “boo-boo-boo” while inflating his throat. The breeding season in New Guinea begins when the dry season finishes and runs from June until October in Queensland. Nests are shallow depressions scraped in the ground, lined with leaves and grasses, very well camouflaged amongst the vegetation. Several clutches of 3-5 greenish eggs may be laid during the breeding season. Incubation is by the male and lasts about 50 days. Chicks remain with their father for about nine months until they become independent. Southern cassowaries are reproductively mature at about three years old.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, the total Southern cassowary population size is around 10,000-19,999 individuals, equating to 6,000-15,000 mature individuals. This includes the estimated Australian population of 2,500 mature individuals. Overall, currently Southern cassowaries are classified as Vulnerable and their numbers today are decreasing.
Threats
The destruction of tropical wet coastal lowland habitat and rainforest is the most important threat to the Southern cassowary population. The forest is cleared for agriculture and development, causing populations become isolated and fragmented, reducing genetic variation. These birds also may not have access in their forest patches to sufficient food or water. Traffic accidents also kill many of these birds, particularly in Queensland, where more humans are coming to live. Humans also bring dogs, which prey particularly on the young birds. Some communities in New Guinea rely on cassowaries as a food source and so heavily hunt these birds.
Conservation
Conservation Actions Underway
A recovery plan for the species in Australia was published in 2002 (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service 2002) and updated in 2007. In Australia, programmes have been aimed at community education, localised habitat management, protection and revegetation, management plans for populations and high-risk individuals, surveys, survey and translocation methods, and habitat use. Temporary feeding stations have been installed in damaged areas following cyclones in Australia. Most remaining habitat is within protected areas.
Conservation Actions Proposed
Determine population densities, sizes and demographic trends throughout its range. In Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, quantify the effects of hunting and logging. Promote community-based hunting restrictions. In Australia: Revise monitoring techniques and monitor key sites. Research population dynamics. Research impact of cyclones, dogs, traffic, disease and fragmentation on the persistence of small populations and on survivorship and demography. Prevent habitat clearance. Minimise cassowary road deaths and dog attacks, and assess the impact of pigs. Undertake dog and pig control areas of in dense populations. Investigate the feasibility and merits and, if appropriate, implement a translocation plan as part of the rescue, rehabilitation and release. Identify areas and corridors to protect, restore, manage, develop and implement Cassowary Conservation Local Area Plans as part of local planning.