Animal Diaries Archive

Our Beautiful Southern Cassowaries

26 January 2007

G'day guys and welcome to another week in birds. For those of you who are not familiar with this beautiful and odd-looking bird, this is a Southern Cassowary. They belong to the same group as the emu and ostrich and there are three recognised species of cassowary in the world. Our Southern Cassowary is a shy, secretive bird and can only be found in very small areas of rainforest in north eastern Queensland. Their numbers are unfortunately diminishing quickly, mainly due to habitat loss.

Here at Australia Zoo we are very lucky to have five beautiful Southern Cassowaries. Their names are Bedarra, Babinda, Beepa, Rocky and Stomp and they are more than happy to keep us on our toes! They love their fruit and are always happy to see us at breakfast time. These beautiful birds can eat up to 10kg of fruit each a day, so we spend plenty of time in the early morning preparing their food for the day. So next time you visit us here at Australia Zoo, be sure to come see our big Southern Cassowaries and take a moment to appreciate their odd but beautiful characteristics.