{"id":2175794,"date":"2024-06-14T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2175794"},"modified":"2024-06-08T09:04:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-08T08:04:08","slug":"australias-fearsome-dinosaur-bird-stares-down-extinction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/australias-fearsome-dinosaur-bird-stares-down-extinction\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s fearsome ‘dinosaur bird’ stares down extinction"},"content":{"rendered":"

With legs like a velociraptor and a striking neon blue neck, the southern cassowary cuts a fearsome figure in the rainforests of northeast Australia.<\/p>\n

It is best to admire these human-sized birdies — and their rapier-sharp 10 centimetre (four inch) talons — from afar.<\/p>\n

“It’s a modern-day dinosaur,” said Peter Rowles, the rugged president of a community group protecting the endangered birds.<\/p>\n

Fiercely territorial, when threatened they hiss and make a deep rumbling boom.<\/p>\n

“When you first look at them eye to eye, that can be intimidating, because they’ve got big eyes, and they look straight at you and they do look a bit fierce,” said Rowles.<\/p>\n

These flightless birds are only found in Australia, New Guinea and some Pacific islands.<\/p>\n

The Australian government lists them as endangered and estimates about 4,500 remain in the wild.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>
Peter Rowles, the president of a community group protecting cassowaries, said the birds ‘do look a bit fierce’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They are considered a “keystone species”, meaning they play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity and helping spread seeds in the rainforest.<\/p>\n

If cassowaries go extinct, the rainforests will suffer.<\/p>\n

“We thought if we could save cassowaries, we also could save enough habitat to keep a lot of other species alive,” Rowles explained.<\/p>\n

His group is doing what it can to save these formidable birds, which stand 1.5 metres (five feet) tall and can weigh up to 75 kilos (165 pounds).<\/p>\n

This includes making signs urging drivers to slow down, redesigning roads to better protect native habitats and running a cassowary hospital for injured birds.<\/p>\n

The main threats to the cassowary are car strikes, clearing of native habitats, dog attacks and climate change.<\/p>\n

“Cassowaries are not aggressive when they’re treated well,” said Rowles, with few recorded deaths caused by the species.<\/p>\n

A young Australian boy was killed in 1926 after he chased the bird, who severed his jugular vein, while a Florida man perished in 2019 when his pet cassowary attacked.<\/p>\n

– ‘Naturally cranky birds’ –<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The main threats to the cassowary are car strikes, clearing of native habitats, dog attacks and climate change<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the past 300 years, about 100 of Australia’s unique flora and fauna species have been wiped off the planet.<\/p>\n

This rate of extinction will likely increase, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).<\/p>\n

“There is so much that has to be done and resources are not available to have a significant impact,” said Darren Grover, WWF Australia’s acting chief conservation officer.<\/p>\n

“We’re looking at around 2,000 species on the Australian government’s threatened species list and more and more species are added to that list yearly,” he added.<\/p>\n

Threats include climate change, habitat loss and invasive species, Grover said.<\/p>\n

The Australian government has a national recovery plan underway to save the iconic cassowary bird — as it does with many other species — that includes working with Indigenous and conservation groups.<\/p>\n

Much of the country’s conservation efforts focus on protecting keystone species, a concept developed by zoologists in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\"Fiercely<\/a>
Fiercely territorial, when threatened cassowary birds hiss and make a deep rumbling boom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grover said this is the best approach when resources are limited, as it provides flow-on effects to other animals in that habitat.<\/p>\n

But this strategy can only go so far, he warned: “I don’t think we can ever do enough to save our wildlife in Australia.”<\/p>\n

“Cassowaries are amazing species and whenever you get to see them in the wild is fantastic,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But be careful because they are naturally cranky birds, they are big and powerful and we need to give them some space.”<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> was first published by The Daily Mail on 5 June 2024. Lead Image:\u00a0The Australian government lists cassowaries as endangered and estimates about 4,500 remain in the wild.<\/em><\/p>\n

What you can do<\/h2>\n

Help to save wildlife by donating as little as $1 \u2013 It only takes a minute.<\/p>\n

\n