The Cassowary stands approximately 4-5 feet tall, and resembles a small ostrich, but for the bony carapace on its head. Cassowaries have five long, sharp black feather quills which can act as lethal spears in what remains of the former flight feathers. The inner of the three toenails grows to several inches and serves to thrash its owner's way through its native rain-forest jungle but can also be used as defense weaponry usually by the female when cornered and provoked. Females are considerably larger and more aggressive than their male counterparts and tolerate them only during the breeding season. After mating with the dominant male in whose territory she is passing through, the female will lay a small clutch of eggs which is incubated by the male.
Males also rear the young while avoiding the wandering, adult females.
The Ripley's adventures with Cassowaries started with a single egg given to them in 1963 on one of several trips to New Guinea. The fragile dark-green, two pound egg survived the long trip from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. A much longer trip then and still a long trip today. After forty-three days in incubation, the egg hatched at the Sanctuary on Duck Pond Road in Litchfield. The vividly striped chick grew into a large, glossy, black bird adorned with an off-yellow crown, two vivid red wattles, and a cobalt blue and green face.