Southern Cassowary

Casuarius casuarius

Average (Polyandrous)

The **Southern Cassowary** (*Casuarius casuarius*) is a large Australasian bird featured in the Australia Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population in the Wild:** 10,000-20,000

The southern cassowary is a large flightless bird that lives in the rainforests, mangroves and grasslands of Papua New Guinea, Eastern Indonesia and Northern Australia. They have black plumage with a shaggy fur-like appearance and robust, grey legs and feet. The southern cassowary has a distinctive brown casque on top of their head, a brown-black curved beak, a royal blue throat and a pale blue crown. The back of its neck is orange and it has two red wattles hanging down from its throat. Although males and females look similar, females are significantly larger than males, have bigger crests, beaks and brighter coloration. Male Southern cassowaries measure between 112-136cm and weigh between 29-34kg on average. Females measure between 140-170cm and weigh between 46-69kg on average.

Although the southern cassowary is not listed as endangered, its numbers in Australia have declined by 30% in the past 44 years due to habitat loss through deforestation. They are often killed by traffic and their nests are likely to be disturbed by dogs and boars. However, conservation efforts have halted the decline due to the introduction of habitat protection in Australia, and legislation has been introduced in areas of Papua New Guinea to stop them from being hunted.

### Social

Southern cassowaries are solitary animals. In the wild, they only interact to breed. Males will care for a clutch of 2-4 offspring for up to 9 months and then leave young to be independent.

### Reproduction

During the mating season, males will build a large nest on the ground (around 1m in diameter and 5-10cm thick) and will signal to females and rival males by ‘booming’ loudly. When a female encounters a male with a satisfactory nest and/or vocalization, she will approach the male. The female will lie on the nest and the male will ‘dance’ around the female before mating. Following copulation, the female will lay a clutch of 2-4 eggs in the male’s nest and then leave the male to incubate the eggs and raise the chicks. The female may lay 2-3 clutches of eggs with different males during each breeding season. The eggs will incubate for 47-61 days. During this time, the male very rarely leaves the nest. After hatching, chicks remain with their father for approximately 9 months. He will teach them how to forage and avoid predators. When chicks are around 9 months old, the father will chase them away so he is able to mate again. Southern cassowaries reach sexual maturity at 3 years old.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Slow Feeder · Forage Box Enrichment
Herb scent marker · Mirror mobile · Small ball · Small Ice Ball Enrichment · Small Ball Colourful · Sprinkler · Rubber Duck

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* The eggs of the southern cassowary are pea green when first laid and fade in colour over time
* The talons of the southern cassowary can be up to 12cm long and are very sharp
* Southern cassowaries can be aggressive and have been known to kill humans
* Cassowaries are important to their local environment as they are effective seed dispersers; they eat over 200 species of plants and disperse the seeds as they are egested
* The southern cassowary features in the mythology of many rainforest tribes, with stories stating that cassowaries are reincarnations of humans, and that humans were created from the feathers of a female cassowary

### Other Trivia

* The Southern Cassowary was the first bird to be added to *Planet Zoo* post-launch.