thephotosocietyのインスタグラム(thephotosociety) - 2月18日 22時43分

Photo by Kevin Schafer @schaferpho @ナショナルジオグラフィック – Southern Cassowaries are considered “the most dangerous birds on Earth”, a reputation based on their enormous reptilian claws, meant for disemboweling any creature that presents a threat to them or their chicks. At up to six feet (two meters) tall, they are indeed imposing birds, and when I stood next to one for the first time, my adrenaline rush was intense. However, after spending several weeks in their company, in the forests of Queensland, I came to think of them quite differently.

They are, more accurately, peaceful vegetarians, silently wandering through the tropical rainforests in search of fallen fruit. No, I wouldn’t want to piss one off, but I found that I could spend hours quietly accompanying them on their rounds, without ever once feeling aggression or threat. Like most of the ratites, the females are larger than the males, and come together only for mating. The female, for her part, lays the fertilized eggs, which are then entirely cared for by the males. She may, in fact, pair with several males in a single season.
Here a male Cassowary rests on the ground along with his two growing chicks, already starting to show the dangling wattles on their necks, if not their father’s brilliant colors or curved casque. These are wild birds, but quietly accepting of a photographer lying flat on the ground beside them.

Sadly, the biggest threat to Cassowaries, in addition to habitat loss and the occasional hurricane, is being struck and killed by cars. It happens every year throughout the coastal forests of northern Queensland.

#cassowaries #cassowary #endangered #birds #Queensland #Australia #worldheritage

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