Land birds are part of one of the groups of animals that survived the great cataclysm of the age of the dinosaurs. Today, some of its relatives remain an example of magical evolution and an example of this is the cassowary. As if it had escaped from prehistory, this flightless bird is positioned as one of the largest in the animal kingdom, after the ostrich and the emu, the latter belonging to its same family, the Casuariidae.

With a size comparable to its aggressiveness and which makes it considered the most dangerous bird in the world, the cassowary is native to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Here their populations face a continuous decline caused, above all, by the destruction of their natural habitats. This classifies the species as 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List or considers it highly threatened by institutions such as the Australian government itself. This situation makes conservation centers like BIOPARC Fuengirola work to protect it.

An aggressiveness that makes it necessary to implement special protocols to guarantee their care.

Among the more than two hundred threatened species that this animal park houses, there is the common cassowary, the largest subspecies (species) of the three existing ones. Their black plumage, intense blue head, helmet, claws and large size make them imposing animals that require special protocols to guarantee their care.

“Its attack potential makes it the most dangerous bird in the world. He runs a lot and attacks by kicking forward. Their strength and long nails on their paws can cause very serious injuries and even death to people. This makes it necessary to have special and strict protocols,” explains Antonio Garrucho, head of Zoology at BIOPARC Fuengirola.

Every day, the team in charge of their care works on their diets, cleaning their enclosures, training and something essential in dealing with the cassowary: its observation. “Care must observe when they are, since they change their behavior a lot depending on whether they are in heat, incubation, etc. "He must know the species very well, requesting when necessary the change in management established by our protocols to adapt it to each moment."

For this care to be successful, team members work to maintain the animal-caretaker bond that allows them to be treated peacefully and without attacks. It is possible thanks to the training with which they reinforce that relationship daily.

Prehistoric bird with sharp and deadly claws

The cassowary maintains a special morphology. The little evolution that the species has undergone over thousands of years allows us to observe features of prehistoric birds, even close to dinosaurs. “Their atrophied wings, their barely developed feathers, their claw-shaped nails…, it is the combination of all this that makes them very special,” Garrucho highlights.

With three fingers that turn their claws into sharp weapons, especially the central one which is about twelve centimeters long, their kicks can be deadly. On their heads they have a bony-cartilaginous helmet that allows them to break tree branches when they run through the jungle, protecting their head.

Cassowaries, like the emu and ostrich, They are running birds that can reach up to 50 km/h. They are also good swimmers and capable of jumping up to almost two meters.