Казуар южный: описание, ареал и взаимодействие с человеком.

Species of bird

The southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), also known as double wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary, or two wattled cassowary, is a large flightless black bird, found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf cassowary and the northern cassowary. It is a ratite and therefore related to the emu, ostriches, rheas and kiwi. The Australian population is listed as Endangered under federal and Queensland state legislation.

The southern cassowary has stiff, bristly black plumage, a blue face and a long neck, red on the cape and two red wattles measuring around in length hanging down around its throat. A horn like brown casque, measuring high, sits atop the head. The bill can range from The plumage is sexually monomorphic, but the female is dominant and larger with a longer casque, larger bill and brighter coloured bare parts. The juveniles have brown longitudinal striped plumage. It is technically the largest Asian bird (since the extinction of the Arabian ostrich) and the largest Australian bird (though the emu may be slightly taller).

The southern cassowary is distributed in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. It mainly inhabits tropical rainforests but may make use of nearby savannah forests or mangroves stands.

The southern cassowary is a solitary bird, which pairs only in breeding season, in late winter or spring. The male builds a nest on the ground,
Southern cassowaries make a thunderous call during mating season, and hissing and rumblings otherwise. Chicks will make frequent high pitched contact whistles and chirps to call the male. The first documented human death caused by a southern cassowary was on 6 April 1926. In Australia, 16 year old Phillip McClean and his brother, age 13, came across a southern cassowary on their property and decided to try and kill it by striking it with clubs. The bird kicked the younger boy, who fell and ran away as his older brother struck the bird. The older McClean then tripped and fell to the ground. While he was on the ground, the cassowary kicked him in the neck, opening a 1.25 cm (0.5 in) wound that may have severed his jugular vein. The boy died of his injuries shortly thereafter. Another human death due to a southern cassowary was recorded in Florida, United States on 12 April 2019. The bird's owner, a 75 year old man who had raised the animal, was apparently clawed to death after he fell to the ground. Being fed by people tempts southern cassowaries into closer associations with human inhabited areas, increasing the already high risk of vehicle strikes – a major cause of southern cassowary mortality – and increasing the likelihood of encounters with humans. Many "aggressive" birds are simply responding to having been fed by humans in the past. Unfortunately the poor reputation of this species leads to confusion and misinformation among the public, which hampers conservation efforts of this shy bird. In a 2017 Australian Birdlife article, Karl Brandt suggested Aboriginal encounters with the southern cassowary may have inspired the myth of the bunyip.

Although subject to ongoing habitat loss (some due to logging), limited range, and overhunting in some areas, the southern cassowary was evaluated as Least concern in 2018 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Other threats include feral animals eating their eggs and roadkill. A study published in Biological Conservation in March 2023 listed 23 species which the authors considered to no longer meet the criteria as threatened species under the EPBC Act, including the Southern cassowary. A 2021 study had shown that extensive reservation had led to recovery of the species, and legislation had prevented the previously rapid loss of habitat. The reason for their assessment was given as "Populations now stable or declining at a rate less than threshold". The team, led by John Woinarski of Charles Darwin University looked at all species listed as threatened under the act in 2000 and 2022. Southern cassowaries have been bred in zoos around the world, including White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Florida, United States.