WHEN CASSOWARIES ATTACK

[<darren.naish@port.ac.uk>]

Chris Brochu wrote...

> Isn't the most dangerous dinosaur (to H. sapiens) the cassowary?

For those who are interested, here's an extract from an article of
mine. Italics etc deleted.

When cassowaries attack

It is well known that cassowaries can be dangerous, and indeed
together with ostriches they are the only birds known to have
definitely killed humans. On mainland Australia, the most recent
recorded fatality occurred in April 1926 when Phillip McClean 
received an injury to the throat after running from a cassowary and 
falling to the ground. Attacking cassowaries charge and kick, 
sometimes jumping on top of the victim. Unlike emus, which 
reputedly kick backwards, cassowaries can kick in a forward and 
downward direction. They may also peck, barge or head- butt. The 
commonest injuries they cause in humans are puncture wounds, 
lacerations and bone fractures. Serious injuries resulting from 
cassowary attacks are most likely to occur if the person is crouching or 
is lying or has fallen on the ground. When confronted with a charging 
cassowary it is clearly unwise to crouch or turn one?s back on the bird. 
Claims that jogging incites cassowaries to attack (supposedly because 
the sound of running feet imitates a foot-stamping rival cassowary) do 
not withstand scrutiny as walking people have been attacked more 
frequently than joggers. 

However, cassowaries do not attack indiscriminately and a recent study
by Christopher Kofron (1999) of 221 recorded attacks by C. casuarius
johnsonii showed that attacks are mostly due to association of humans
with food. Several attacks (7) appeared to be a territorial reaction
to the presence of humans in an area where the cassowary was feeding
while some (32) were clearly defensive ? the cassowary either
protecting itself or its chicks or eggs. McClean?s death in 1926 was
not the result of an unprovoked attack: he had struck the bird with
the intention of killing it and had then fled. By far the greatest
number of attacks (109) involved soliciting of food by the cassowary.
In areas where humans have taken to feeding cassowaries, some
cassowaries act boldly and aggressively in expectation of being fed
and will run up to or chase people, sometimes kicking if no food is
offered. Kofron reports that such behaviour was not recorded in his
study area prior to 1985. Human feeding would thus appear to have
modified cassowary behaviour and in fact cassowaries are naturally
wary and highly unlikely to attack without provocation. 

Cassowaries will also kick or peck at doors at windows, sometime
breaking panes of glass or screen panels. In these cases they are
presumably attacking a reflection which they perceive as another
cassowary. They will also kick or chase cars, again because they
appear to associate the human occupants with food. Cassowaries 
dislike dogs and will attack them without provocation, presumably 
because feral dogs and dingos often prey on cassowaries. Between 
June 1996 and February 1997, six cassowaries were killed by dogs in 
the Cairns area and, of 35 cassowary attacks recorded by Kofron on 
dogs, 29 were in self-defence. Attacks on horses and cows have also 
been recorded and C. casuarius is anecdotally credited with having 
killed small horses (C. Walker pers. comm.). These attacks were 
presumably territorial in motive.


DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
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