The Southern Cassowary is about 170cm long and is blue, black, red, and white. All of the colorful features are mostly on its head. The cassowary has a bony plate on its head called a casque to protect it from hitting the rough brush in the rainforest. The cassowary has three forward pointed toes with the inner toe, at roughly five inches long, used for defense against enemies. The other toes plus the inner toe are all used for traction while running.

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The niche for the southern cassowary is in the rainforest where they spend their time eating fruit that has fallen off of trees. There are 1,500 to 10,000 Cassowaries in the world. The southern cassowary is shrinking in numbers. The southern cassowary is shrinking because of it's habitat loss in the rainforest. They are also shrinking because the Cassowaries wander into populated areas and cities. These birds often wander onto farm land and eat the farmers crops which has caused conflicts between farmers and the southern cassowaries.

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The southern cassowary competes with the feral pig for food. The southern cassowary is mainly killed and eaten by dogs and poachers. The poachers use the Cassowary feathers and also sell and eat their meet. The thing that stood out the most about this animal is how it is almost extinct. I learned that even though these animals are becoming extinct they are still fighting for survival. I also learned that for being such a small animal they can be extremely dangerous. The other thing that stood out about this animal was that it has the toenail of a raptor that can kill or severely injure its victim with one swipe of its kick.

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Author: Luke M

Published: 02/2007

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Bibliography: Jaxzoo.com Google.com Animalplanet.com