If you happen to be in Australia or New Guinea and encounter a massive black bird stomping around on two feet, beware. Known as "the world's most dangerous bird," cassowaries can be as much as six feet tall and weigh more than 150 pounds. Their dagger-like claws can easily puncture, slice, and dice any animal that threatens it.
"There's just something primeval about them," says biologist Andrew Mack, director of Cassowary Conservation & Publishing. "They look like living dinosaurs."
From CNN:
While these creatures look large and intimidating, Peter Rowles says, "Many more cassowaries die from humans than humans die from cassowaries."Rowles is the founder of the Community for Coastal & Cassowary Conservation, shortened to "C4." He is a longtime resident of Mission Beach, a seaside community in northern Queensland near the Daintree National Park, the primary Australian habitat for cassowaries.
"If you encounter a cassowary in the wild, first thing is put your hands behind your back," he says.
"Be as boring as you can be, so you're not attracting that cassowary's attention. Move behind a tree. Just blend into the environment. Don't scream and yell and wave your arms around. If you've got food in your hand, put it in your pocket, put it behind you, put it out of sight. It's better to do that and be boring than to be seen as a potential source of more food."
According to a 2001 report in the Journal of Zoology, 75% of the cassowary attacks on people were by those birds previously fed by humans.
Previously:
• Cassowary sounds like it's sucking the last bit of an infrasound smoothie through a straw
• Rare giant bird kills Florida man
• World's most dangerous bird spotted swimming at public beach (video)
