Home » Plants & Animals » Killer Animals » Dangers Of The Rain Forest

Dangers Of The Rain Forest

© Jacqueline Dell

If asked, how easily could you name a bird that has the capability of killing a human being? Most people would be hard pressed to come up with an answer. Obviously there are not too many birds that can do this, however there is one species that has the exact inbuilt weapon to achieve a brutal and gruesome murder. The animal is a Cassowary, it is closely related to the emu and ostrich and is found in the far north of Australia, in the Queensland rain forests and also in New Guinea.

The Cassowary is a flightless bird who has an extremely unusual appearance. It stands as tall as any adult human, and can weigh up to 130 pounds. They are covered with hair like feathers and sport the most unusual colours around their necks of yellow, red or blue. However, the most striking attribute is the hard helmet like casing on top of their skulls called a "casque". It is not any of these attributes that contribute to the Cassowary's ability to kill, rather it is their knife like claws that grow out from their feet that can reach a length of up to 5 inches. These claws are used as deadly daggers on anything or anyone that the Cassowary considers a threat. The sheer length and sharpness of these claws gives the Cassowary the ability to disembowel a person in a matter of minutes. All said and done, the Cassowary is not a violent bird out on the rampage looking for its next victim. Rather it is a quiet animal generally very content to forage around the rain forest floors looking for food.

The problems have generally arisen as peoples homes and the towns they live in have started to slowly encroach on the Cassowary's habitat, and hence Cassowary and human contact is becoming more frequent. In Northern Queensland especially the Cassowary's have come to associate people with a food source. Therefore, they come at people and sometimes attack simply because they are hungry. Most of the attacks have occurred due to hikers trying to feed them, being totally unaware of the dangers involved. There have been at least six attacks on humans in New Guinea and Australia since 1990. The birds can kick, head-butt with their hard helmets or peck at people, but the biggest trouble arises when the Cassowary kicks and slashes or jumps on top of a victim. One documented fatal attack occurred when a person tried to kill a cassowary but tripped and fell over providing the bird with the perfect opportunity to kill.

The copyright of the article Dangers Of The Rain Forest in Killer Animals is owned by . Permission to republish Dangers Of The Rain Forest in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.