Is the Cassowary the Most Dangerous Bird? The Real Risk

Why does the cassowary have a dangerous reputation?

The southern cassowary of New Guinea and northeastern Australia is a big, strong bird. Females, the larger sex, weigh about 47–76 kg (103–168 lb) and stand up to about 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) tall. A cassowary can run at up to about 50 km/h (31 mph), jump high and swim well.

Its main weapons are its legs. Each foot has three thick toes, and the inner toe bears a straight, sharp claw up to about 12 cm (4.7 in) long. A cassowary defends itself by kicking forward, sometimes after jumping, so a kick can strike a person’s legs or body with force.

Add the bright blue head, tall casque and staring eyes, and it is easy to see why the bird looks fierce. For decades, newspapers, books and record lists have repeated the idea that it is the deadliest bird alive. The reality is more measured.

How many people have cassowaries killed?

Only two human deaths caused by southern cassowaries are well documented since 1900:

• Queensland, Australia, 1926. Two teenage brothers tried to kill a cassowary with clubs. The bird kicked the younger boy, and when the older brother fell, the cassowary kicked him in the neck. He died of his injury.
• Florida, USA, 2019. A 75-year-old man who kept a captive cassowary on his property died after he fell and was attacked by the bird.

In both cases the bird was provoked or was in an unnatural situation. There are older, poorly documented reports from New Guinea, where people have hunted cassowaries for thousands of years, but no reliable count exists.

What do the attack records show?

The best study of the risk comes from wildlife biologist Christopher Kofron, who reviewed case histories of cassowary attacks in Queensland. He compiled 221 attacks, of which 150 were on people and most of the rest on dogs.

Most attacks were chases or charges, and only about 15% involved actual kicks. Injuries ranged from bruises and cuts to deep wounds, and only one death was among the 150 attacks. The clear message is that cassowaries become a problem mainly when people teach them to link humans with food.

Is the cassowary really the most dangerous bird?

It depends on what “most dangerous” means. If it means the bird best equipped to hurt a person, the cassowary and the ostrich are the strongest candidates. Both are heavy, fast and armed with powerful kicking legs.

If it means the bird that injures the most people, the answer is less clear. Ostriches are farmed in large numbers, and people work close to them every day, so ostrich injuries may be more common in total. Read more in are ostriches dangerous?.

Compared with truly deadly animals, both birds are minor risks. Mosquitoes, snakes, dogs and many other animals cause far more human deaths each year, as shown in the list of deadliest animals to humans. A wild cassowary that has not been fed usually slips away into the forest long before a person sees it.

Why do fed cassowaries become dangerous?

Cassowaries are naturally shy and solitary. When people feed them from cars, gardens or picnic tables, the birds lose their fear and start to approach people, expecting food. A bird that does not get what it expects may chase, peck or kick.

Feeding also harms the birds. Fed cassowaries spend more time near roads, where vehicle strikes are one of the main known causes of death in Queensland. They also come into contact with dogs, which kill many chicks and young birds. For these reasons, feeding cassowaries is illegal in Queensland.

How to behave near a wild cassowary

Queensland wildlife authorities give simple advice for anyone in cassowary country:

• Keep your distance. Watch from far away and let the bird move on.
• Never feed a cassowary, and do not leave food scraps where birds can find them.
• Stay away from chicks. The striped chicks are guarded by their father, who will defend them.
• Do not run or turn your back. If a bird approaches, back away slowly and put a tree, a backpack or another object between you and the bird.
• Keep dogs on a leash or indoors in areas where cassowaries live.
• Drive slowly where warning signs show cassowaries cross the road.

If anyone is seriously injured by any animal, seek emergency medical help immediately: call 000 in Australia, 911 in the US, 112 in the EU or 999 in the UK.

Why cassowaries matter more than their reputation

Behind the fearsome image is a shy fruit eater that plays a vital role in the rainforest. Cassowaries swallow fruit whole and drop the seeds in their dung far from the parent tree, helping many plant species spread. The Australian population is listed as Endangered under federal law, so a cassowary on the road is far more at risk from people than people are from it.