---
title: "What the sources say about the Southern Cassowary | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "59 claims from the Southern Cassowary profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/cassowary-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/cassowary/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Southern Cassowary (*Casuarius casuarius*)

> 59 claims from the Southern Cassowary profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Southern Cassowary](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/cassowary/)

## Southern Cassowary. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/southern-cassowary

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A five-inch dagger-like claw on each foot | a secret weapon being a five-inch-long dagger-like claw on each foot |
| Rainforests of northeastern Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia's Ceram and Aru islands | Southern cassowaries inhabit rainforests of northeastern Australia and the island of New Guinea, as well as the Indonesian islands of Ceram and Aru. |
| Mostly fallen fruit | Cassowaries mostly feast on fallen fruit, snails, and fungi |
| plus small mammals and reptiles, dead or alive | when they have high-protein cravings, they feed on small mammals and reptiles, dead or alive. |
| A five-inch dagger-like claw on each foot | a secret weapon being a five-inch-long dagger-like claw on each foot |
| armed with a five-inch, dagger-like claw | a secret weapon being a five-inch-long dagger-like claw on each foot |
| Males weigh up to 55 kilograms (121 pounds) | Males up to 121 pounds (55 kilograms) |
| Southern cassowaries live in rainforests of northeastern Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia's Ceram and Aru islands | Southern cassowaries inhabit rainforests of northeastern Australia and the island of New Guinea, as well as the Indonesian islands of Ceram and Aru. |
| They mostly eat fallen fruit, snails, and fungi, and also take small mammals and reptiles, dead or alive | Cassowaries mostly feast on fallen fruit, snails, and fungi, but when they have high-protein cravings, they feed on small mammals and reptiles, dead or alive. |
| Conservation scientists believe the cassowary is a keystone species, one that helps its forest regrow by spreading the seeds of several hundred rainforest plants far from the parent plant | Conservation scientists believe this keystone species helps spread the seeds of several hundred rainforest plants, moving seeds far from the parent plant and helping to regenerate the ecosystem. |
| The female lays three to five green eggs | Southern cassowaries lay three to five green-colored eggs. |
| the male incubates them for about 50 days | Incubation: About 50 days (by the male) |
| then guards the chicks for about nine months as they learn to forage | he will guard the chicks and protect them from predators for about nine months as they learn to forage. |
| By the time the young are independent, they are nearly full-grown and able to defend themselves | By the time the young are independent, they are nearly full-grown and able to defend themselves. |
| Cassowaries are good swimmers that enjoy bathing in shallow water and mud wallows | Cassowaries are good swimmers and enjoy bathing in shallow water and mud wallows. |

## Southern cassowary. Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/southern-cassowary

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a leap of up to seven feet | they are incredible jumpers and can launch themselves up to 7 feet off the ground! |
| a leap of up to seven feet off the ground | they are incredible jumpers and can launch themselves up to 7 feet off the ground! |
| has a razor-sharp inner toe on each foot | their razor-sharp inner toes |
| It cannot fly, but it can launch itself up to seven feet off the ground | Cassowaries cannot fly, but they are incredible jumpers and can launch themselves up to 7 feet off the ground! |
| It can grow to 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) tall | They can grow to be 5.5 feet tall (170 centimeters). (note: 170 cm converted to 1.7 m) |
| females are slightly larger | Females are slightly larger than males |
| The Smithsonian's National Zoo gives a wild lifespan of 18 to 20 years | In the wild, they live for 18-20 years. (note: attributed because SDZ gives the wild life span as Unknown) |
| up to 40 in human care | In human care, cassowaries can live up to 40 years. |
| the same substance as our hair and nails | keratin, the same substance as our hair and nails |

## Casuarius casuarius: Southern Cassowary. Species Profile and Threats Database, Australian Government Department of the Environment, 2026.

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=25986

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| (from over 200 plant species), snails, and fungi | Cassowaries eat fleshy fruits of over 200 species of plants (note: snails and fungi: SDZ, Cassowaries mostly feast on fallen fruit, snails, and fungi) |
| The Australian subspecies is listed as Endangered under Australian law | Listed as Endangered
as Casuarius casuarius johnsonii (note: EPBC Act listing, effective 16-Jul-2000, current on the 2026 SPRAT page) |

## Casuarius casuarius. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22678108A131902050.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-2.rlts.t22678108a131902050.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: read through GBIF's copy of the Red List, per docs/fact-check.md; the SDZ page still says Vulnerable, superseded by the 2018 assessment) |

## Eastick et al. (2019). Cassowary casques act as thermal windows. Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-38780-8

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a casque that appears to work as a heat radiator | we provide evidence that the casque acts as a thermal radiator, offloading heat at high temperatures and restricting heat loss at low temperatures |
| has puzzled people for nearly 200 years | The function of the casque has attracted considerable curiosity and speculation for nearly 200 years (note: as of 2019; the same sentence continues: yet its purpose remains unclear) |
| A 2019 study pointed a heat-sensing camera at 20 southern cassowaries in zoos | n = 20) were photographed with a hand-held thermal imager (note: the same Methods sentence: in zoological parks; the year is the reference's publication year; n = 20 is in the quote with a non-breaking space) |
| across a wide range of air temperatures | living cassowaries over an expansive range of ambient temperatures |
| It found evidence that the casque acts as a thermal radiator, a surface that sheds heat: it offloads heat when the air is hot and restricts heat loss when it is cold | we provide evidence that the casque acts as a thermal radiator, offloading heat at high temperatures and restricting heat loss at low temperatures |
| At in-between temperatures, the back half of the casque appeared to warm up before the front half | at intermediate temperatures, the casque appears thermally heterogeneous, with the posterior of the casque heating up before the front half. |
| A 2019 study used a heat-sensing camera on 20 southern cassowaries in zoos | n = 20) were photographed with a hand-held thermal imager (note: the year is the reference's publication year; n = 20 is in the quote with a non-breaking space) |
| It found evidence that the casque acts as a thermal radiator: it offloads heat at high temperatures and restricts heat loss at low temperatures | we provide evidence that the casque acts as a thermal radiator, offloading heat at high temperatures and restricting heat loss at low temperatures |
| At in-between temperatures, its back half appeared to warm up before its front half | at intermediate temperatures, the casque appears thermally heterogeneous, with the posterior of the casque heating up before the front half. |

## Kofron (1999). Attacks to humans and domestic animals by the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) in Queensland, Australia. Journal of Zoology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1999.tb01206.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A 1999 review of attacks in Queensland, Australia | The incidence of cassowary attacks in Queensland is reviewed. (note: the year is the reference's publication year) |
| noted that cassowaries and ostriches were the only birds known to have caused human deaths by physical attack | Cassowaries and ostriches are the only birds world‐wide that have caused human deaths by physical attack. |
| It gathered data on 221 cassowary attacks, 150 of them on people | Data were obtained for 221 cassowary attacks, of which 150 were against humans |
| Victims were chased or charged in 71 percent of incidents and kicked in 15 percent | Victims were chased or charged in 71% of the incidents, and kicked in 15%. |
| Seven attacks on people caused serious injuries, and one of those led to a death: the victim was trying to kill the cassowary | Seven attacks against humans resulted in serious injuries ... and subsequently one death ... In the single fatal attack, the victim was trying to kill the cassowary. |
| Three-quarters of the attacks on people were by cassowaries that people had fed before | 150 were against humans, 75% of these by cassowaries fed previously by people. |
| in 73 percent of incidents the birds appeared to be expecting or begging for food | The cassowaries appeared to be expecting or soliciting food from humans (73% of the incidents) |
| Contrary to popular belief, jogging did not provoke attacks | Contrary to popular belief, jogging did not incite cassowaries to attack. |
| A 1999 review of cassowary attacks in Queensland, Australia noted that cassowaries and ostriches were the only birds known to have caused human deaths by physical attack | Cassowaries and ostriches are the only birds world‐wide that have caused human deaths by physical attack. (note: the year is the reference's publication year) |
| of the 150 attacks on people it counted, only one led to a death, and the victim was trying to kill the bird at the time | 221 cassowary attacks, of which 150 were against humans ... Seven attacks against humans resulted in serious injuries ... and subsequently one death ... In the single fatal attack, the victim was trying to kill the cassowary. |
| Three-quarters of the attacks on people were by cassowaries that people had fed before | 150 were against humans, 75% of these by cassowaries fed previously by people. |
| in 73 percent of incidents the birds appeared to be expecting or begging for food | The cassowaries appeared to be expecting or soliciting food from humans (73% of the incidents) |
| The review concluded that cassowaries should not be considered dangerous, although they can cause serious injuries | Although cassowaries should not be considered dangerous, they can cause serious injuries. |

## Kofron & Chapman (2006). Causes of mortality to the endangered Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii in Queensland, Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1071/pc060175

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Among 110 cassowary deaths studied in Queensland from 1986 to 2004, vehicle strikes caused 55 percent and dog attacks 18 percent | The leading cause of death for 110 cassowaries from 1986?2004 was motor vehicle strikes (55%), and the second leading cause of death was dog attacks (18%). (note: Queensland from the paper's title; the paper recorded 140 deaths, and the percentages are for these 110) |

## Bradford & Westcott (2011). Predation of cassowary dispersed seeds: is the cassowary an effective disperser? Integrative Zoology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-4877.2011.00242.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A year-long study of the seeds of 11 plant species in cassowary droppings found that 70 percent still looked intact and viable after a month, and 38 percent after a year | monitoring the fate of 11 species in southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii Linnaeus) droppings over a period of 1 year ... After 1 month, 70% of seeds remained intact and outwardly viable, while the number fell to 38% after 1 year. |

## Green et al. (2026). Ultraviolet light illuminates species-specific biofluorescent casque patterns in cassowaries (Casuarius). Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40230-1

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a casque that glows under ultraviolet light | casque keratin in Casuarius is distinctly UV fluorescent at 365 nm and within 385–395 nm |
| glows under ultraviolet light | casque keratin in Casuarius is distinctly UV fluorescent at 365 nm and within 385–395 nm |
| Its outer layer is keratin | the cassowary keratinous casque sheathing |
| A 2026 study shone ultraviolet (UV) light on the heads of living cassowaries and museum specimens | we exposed heads of living and museum-preserved cassowaries to UV wavelengths (note: the year is the reference's publication year) |
| Every southern cassowary it examined showed biofluorescence | All C. casuarius and C. unappendiculatus individuals exhibited biofluorescence |
| In six living southern cassowaries, the glow covered about 65 percent of the side of the casque on average | Live C. casuarius individuals possess average lateral biofluorescence coverages of 64.92 (note: n = 6 in the same sentence; 64.92 rounded to 65) |
| The glowing patterns differ between cassowary species and between individuals | the biofluorescent casque coverage and patterns differ between and within species |
| even though casque keratin appears dull in normal light | casque keratin appears dull |