A cassowary roaming in a rainforest area.

A cassowary roaming in a rainforest area.

Photo by: Marianne Purdie

Marianne Purdie

The World’s Deadliest Bird Used to be a Pet

Scientists found cassowary eggshells in New Guinea showing the lethal bird was being domesticated 18,000 years ago.

October 22, 2021

The southern cassowary is known as the world’s most dangerous bird. Native to the forests of New Guinea and Northern Australia, in captivity the bird displays extreme aggression.

Close descendants of velociraptors, the fierce dinosaurs featured in Jurassic Park, cassowaries have been documented fatally wounding other animals and even humans, like the captive cassowary who mortally wounded its owner in Florida or the cassowary who killed an Australian teenager in 1926.

Close-up of part of a southern cassowary

1136397119

Close-up of the talons of a southern cassowary.

Photo by: Marianne Purdie

Marianne Purdie

Close-up of the talons of a southern cassowary.

Cassowaries weigh close to 150 pounds. With their reptilian legs, they can stretch to almost six feet tall. By far, their most dangerous weapons are their four-inch talons. When cassowaries feel threatened, they charge at lightning speed, talon first, into their victim.

Cassowary attacks occur every year in Australia resulting in serious injuries like puncture wounds, lacerations, broken bones, and death.

This is not a bird you would want to run into.

But thousands of years before the domestication of the chicken, cassowaries were raised by people in New Guinea from fledgling to adulthood.

Papua New Guinea, East Sepik province, Sepik River Region, Ameki village, Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)

522010458

Cassowaries are flightless birds, closely related to emus. They are the third-tallest and second-heaviest living birds.

Photo by: Marc Dozier

Marc Dozier

Cassowaries are flightless birds, closely related to emus. They are the third-tallest and second-heaviest living birds.

Humans arrived in New Guinea 42,000 years ago. Those settlers would have found the rainforests inhabited by dangerous southern Cassowary birds. Yet, as early as 18,000 years ago, these people found a way to put them to use.

While on an excavation site of a primitive rock shelter, Susan Bulmer, an archaeologist, found a number of artifacts and bird remains – among them more than 1,000 fragments of cassowary eggshells.

Wondering what the people who lived in these early rock shelters were doing with the eggs, she brought them back to the lab. Scanning the shells with 3D laser microscopes revealed how far along each egg had been before hatching. Some eggs had burn marks, suggesting they were being cooked and eaten. While some were almost fully developed. “There’s a great possibility that people were hatching those eggs and rearing cassowary chicks,” said Dr. Kristina Douglass an archaeologist at Penn State University.

egg of cassowary bird

1063960762

Cassowary egg.

Photo by: PansLaos

PansLaos

Cassowary egg.

As further proof, scientists point to Indigenous groups in the country that use cassowary meat and feathers in trade and for rituals. These groups still raise cassowaries from eggs taken out of wild nests. The hatchlings are easy to manage because they imprint on the humans who raise them. (It isn’t until they are fully grown that they become a threat.)

Stealing cassowary eggs is no easy task. The nests are hidden deep in the forest and guarded by unforgiving, violent males. Ancient New Guineans would’ve had to track cassowaries and study their movements closely. The precision required means these early settlers had an intimate knowledge of their environment, which they were able to use to their advantage.

If the early inhabitants of New Guinea really did collect eggs, raise chicks, and hand-rear cassowaries then they were likely some of the earliest known humans to tame foul and domesticate birds.

Next Up

The Oldest Complete Fish Fossil was Discovered Thanks to Kung Fu

Back in 2019, three Chinese paleontologists were playfighting during a break from working in the Chongqing Province, China. One was kung-fu kicked into a rocky outcrop, causing rubble to tumble down and exposing an opening in the rock face. Inside, a spectacular fossil lay undisturbed, preserved for millions of years.

Why the Long Face? Extinct Headbutting Relatives Reveal Giraffes' Neck Evolution

Pioneered by Darwin, giraffes have been used as a classic example of how animals adapt and evolve. Giraffe’s long-neck evolution has long been attributed to foraging for sustenance in the high canopy, now researchers argue that selection for head-butting combat played a role in the long length of giraffe necks.

Are Whale Sharks Now the World’s Largest Omnivore?

A new study finds that whale sharks are the biggest omnivore, disproving previous research on whale sharks’ diets. Researchers were stunned when analyzing whale shark biopsy samples that contained lots of plant material as well as krill material.

The Ancient Monkey Puzzle Tree Outlasted Dinosaurs. Now It's Facing Extinction.

The monkey puzzle tree is a remnant of the Jurassic era, more than 145 million years ago, surviving way past its ancient dinosaur counterparts. Reaching heights of about 160 feet, the evergreen tree has a lifespan of up to 700 years and stiff scaly branches with rigid spiral leaves. Monkey puzzle trees’ presence in the wild is shrinking and after million years, their very existence is now endangered.

Two Orcas Are Hunting Great White Sharks in South Africa

A killer whale duo has been killing great white sharks off the Gansbaai coast, causing them to flee the area. These orcas have developed a taste for shark livers, transforming the local marine ecosystem.

Bald Eagles Made a Comeback But Now They’re Under Threat Again

The resurgence of bald eagles in American skies has been touted as one of the biggest conservation successes in the country – but now scientists say the birds are being poisoned by lead.

Polar Researchers Discover World’s Largest Fish Breeding Colony

Scientists aboard the German research vessel Polarstern have found the world’s largest fish breeding ground containing around 60 million nests.

Is Climate Change Killing More Elephants than Poachers?

Kenya’s Wildlife and Tourism Board has announced that climate change is now a bigger threat to elephant populations than poaching. Kenya is currently facing an extreme drought that is threatening the livelihoods of people and wildlife within the area.

Are Sharks Coming Closer to Our Shores?

Scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science have speculated that variables related to high urbanization may be driving higher occurrences of sharks within coastal waters. With high increased levels of urbanization in coastal cities, it’s important for our world to understand how ocean life adapts to the changes in their habitats.

There is Hope for the Future of Polar Bears Threatened by Climate Change

Scientific researchers have recently identified a sub-population of polar bears in southeastern Greenland that survive by hunting on glacial slush. The discovery of their unique behaviors is helping scientists understand the future of this species whose habitats are threatened by climate change.

Related To: