cassowary
The Australian sub-species of the Double-wattled Cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii is now listed as endangered in the wet tropics and vulnerable nationally. [1]
The closest living relative to the cassowary is the emu of Australia, while both are near relatives of the New Zealand kiwis. [2]
The name Cassowary is from a Malay name [kesuari] for the birds There are 3 species of which the “Southern Cassowary” is found in North Queensland Australia. [3]
The corporate logo of the Wet Tropics Management Authority features a relic plant, the cycad Bowenia spectabilis, and a relic animal - the Southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii). [4]
The cassowary is a large flightless bird. [5]
Flightless birds, cassowaries are covered in coarse black feathers, with the exception of the skin on the head and throat which is brightly colored red and blue. [6]
Cassowaries provide important ecological functions, acting as a keystone species in rain forests by consuming fallen fruit and dispersing the seeds. [7]
Cassowaries feed mainly on fruits, though all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food including shoots, grass seeds and fungi in addition to invertebrates and small vertebrates. [8]
Southern cassowaries in zoos participate in a Population Management Plan. [9]
GENERALLY (Casuarius casuarius) Cassowaries are a large flightless bird belonging to the “Ratite” family. [3]
Cassowaries are Gondwanan in origin and were concentrated in the small part of the supercontinent that later broke apart and became the present areas of Northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and some of the eastern island groups of Indonesia. [4]
Cassowaries, a familiar rainforest species, are widely held in captivity for educational displays as they represent both a flagship species for rainforests and the unique group of birds known as ratites. [1]
Despite almost four hundred years of captive history in European zoos, the cassowaries of Australia and New Guinea remain largely unknown to the general public, and are too often an enigma to those zoos which keep them. [...] Although it is certain that their distant ancestors were able to fly, the lack of a keeled sternum, to which all other birds attach their wing-flapping muscles, suggests that the experiment was soon discontinued on the grounds of ergonomic unsuitability. [2]
These large birds, with powerful legs and claws and fast running ability, have few predators as adults, but their eggs and young are consumed upon by various animals, such as lizards and other birds. [7]
Sources:
[1] Cassowary Husbandry
[2] Cassowary in Captivity
[3] Unique Australian Animals
[4] Cassowary, The
[5] Cassowary
[6] Double-Wattled Cassowary Fact Sheet - National Zoo| FONZ
[7] Cassowary - New World Encyclopedia
[8] Cassowary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[9] San Diego Zoo’s Animal Bytes: Cassowary