Phantoms of the RainforestThe genus Casuarius

Mathurin Jacques Brisson

Born: April 30th, 1723

Died: June 23rd,1806

Nomenclature

• Emeu

• Kesuari or Suwari

• Dromaius – fleet of foot

• Casuarius – chance, fortune

• Seram Cassowary

• Southern Cassowary

Cornelius Houtmann

• Java 1596• Amsterdam 1597• Clusius 1605

She was a phantom of delightwhen she first gleamed upon my sight

A lovely apparition sentto be a moment’s ornament

Common ancestors

• 110 mya Ratites and Tinamous diverge

• 90 mya Emuaries diverge from Ostrich/Rhea line

• 80 mya Emuaries diverge from Moas

• 75 mya Ostrich and Rhea diverge

Recent events

• 45 mya Emuaries and Kiwis diverge

• 25 mya Cassowaries and Emus diverge

• 1 mya New Guinea complete

• 8 kya Last AUS/NG landbridge ends

Casuarius casuarius20 named subspecies

Casuarius unappendiculatus12 named subspecies

Casuarius bennetti16 named subspecies

Species distribution

Next to nothing

• Lack of information about unappendiculatus

• Joan Bentrupperbaumer – C. c. johnsoni

• Cliff & Dawn Frith – C. c. johnsoni

• Crome & Moore – C. c. johnsoni

• Andy Mack – C. bennetti

• Helen Fortune Hopkins – C. bennetti

Physiology• Ancestors flew• Pneumatic bones• Rudimentary

wing• No keeled

sternum• Three toes• Palaeognathic

pallet• Casque

Feathers & Pterylosis

• Double feather unique to Cassowary and Emu

• 7 remiges, 5 secondaries and 2 metacarpals (Gadow, 1888)

• 6 spines

• Claw

• Apteria under wing and elsewhere

Biology

• Precocial• Monotypic• Male alone sits on eggs, hatches and cares for

young• Female is probably often polyandrous• Omnivorous• Adult at 3 years• Can live about 30 years, record is 38 years

Size

• Casuarius casuarius – 1.4 to 1.7m

• Casuarius unappendiculatus – 1.5 to 1.8m

• Casuarius bennetti – 1.0 to 1.4m

Precocial

Chick

Feeding habits

• Mainly vegetarian

• Fruits, seeds, leaves and grasses

• Will pick through own droppings

• Varied and opportunistic feeder on live insects, crustacea, reptiles, small mammals and birds.

• Might eat carrion

Behaviour

• Very shy and often takes headlong flight. Can easily jump own height.

• Dangerous when cornered and when defending territory or young.

• Swims very well.

• Makes deep booming sound during mating display and when taking aggressive pose.

How dangerous are they?

• Cassowaries will not attack for no reason. But they can be territorial, very defensive of their young or be expecting food if people have been doing the wrong thing by feeding them and there is quite a list of people having been chased, charged, kicked, pushed, pecked, jumped on, and head-butted. Statistics show that most cassowary attacks were actually self defence, they are quite capable of killing dogs by gutting them with their sharp claws on their huge feet and have even been rumoured to have killed small horses.

Mossman - April 1926

Cassowaries are among the very few birds that can kill a person but the only time on record that happened was in April 1926 when some boys were hunting a Cassowary near Mossman, North Queensland. The Cassowary turned and chased the boys and one of them, 16 year old Phillip McClean, fell over and got his jugular vein on his neck slashed open by the sharp claw on the cassowary's foot.

• *Tales

Ecology

• No natural predators except man

• Rainforest habitat, but often ventures outside (in search of food?)

• Symbiosis: At least partly responsible for the maintenance of the forest through seed dispersal

• Range size varies according to time of year

Cairns, Queensland

Queensland

Papua New Guinea Highlands

Some of the food plantsknown from Queensland

• 30 species of trees

• 3 Palms

• 3 Shrubs & herbs

• 2 Vines

• 4 Ground cover plants

Food seeds identified in Casuarius bennetti dung samples

• Podocarpaceae

• Ericaceae

• Myrsinaceae

• Myrtaceae

• Rosaceae

• Rubiaceae

• Rutaceae

"the excrement of the Cassowary looks like that of a horse.“ Lumholtz, 1889

The Cassowary in culture

• Inseparable element in native culture

• Diverse linguistic element

• Important religious role

• Economic role

The Cassowary as a source of ornaments, tools and weapons

Linguistics

• Over 600 different languages in New Guinea.

• 600 different names for the Cassowary?

• Malay influence

• Indonesian influence

Religion/cultural beliefs

• Suangi - witchcraft & sorcery

• Adat – customs & beliefs

• Women had superior powers

• Cassowary (good) and snake (bad)

• Mother Cassowary

Trade

• Hunting for food etc.

• Pets for the pot

• Barter at local level

• Regional trade – Tribute 1375 to China

Cultural side effects

• Native plays and short stories

• Poetry

• Paintings & drawings

• Zoo & museum exhibits

Threats

• Habitat destruction and fragmentation

• Uncontrolled hunting

• Introduction of foreign species

• Road accidents and traps

Captive Cassowaries

• Historical breeding records

• Current captive population

• Huge bias towards unknown origin and Casuarius casuarius

• Breeding success minimal

• F2 exists but ……..

• Uncertain value for conservation purposes

Captive breeding experience

• April to September favoured months• Each egg must be separately fertilised• Eggs laid at two or three day intervals• Clutch size of 3 – 4 eggs• Incubation lasts 50 – 54 days• Incubation at 36.1C to 36.4C

• Wet bulb 27.3C – 28.9C with 65% humidity• Chicks hatch asynchronously• Hatch rate is low

Conservation measures

• Queensland

• Papua New Guinea

• Indonesia

• Ex-situ programmes

• More inter-governmental action

Future action needed

• More field observation

• DNA

• Establish population sizes & ranges

• Education

• Cooperation with stakeholders to give effective protection

• Every exit is an entrance somewhere else

• Thank you for your attention!