With long, wispy eyelashes and a vibrant blue face, Bernie the southern cassowary has a look that rivals even the fanciest of peacocks.
But don’t get lost in his dreamy gaze — he’s also the most dangerous bird in the world.
Bernard, also known as Bernie, was adopted by Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand four years ago after he escaped from a monastery where he had been imprisoned for ten years.
After receiving months of medical treatment, Bernie totally recovered from his horrific injuries to his beak, eyes, and legs. He now lives happily at the wildlife center with lots of space to graze and run.
The fact that he is particularly amiable for his species and doesn’t act aggressively toward his caregivers doesn’t imply they should relax their guard. His powerful legs and dagger-like claws have us still being very wary, according to a recent WFFT report.
Cassowaries are sometimes referred to as “living dinosaurs” because of their thick, helmet-like plates on their foreheads and strong legs that can gallop up to 30 miles per hour. Conservationists claim the birds are one of the closest relatives to extinct species that are still alive after 80 million years because of their 4-inch talons, which eerily resemble those of velociraptors.
Those talons also make them the most dangerous birds in the world. While cassowaries — who are native to the rainforests of Australia and New Zealand — generally avoid people, they’re a force to be reckoned with if threatened.
Despite being flightless, they can jump up to 5 feet into the air, and will kick out with their taloned feet to defend themselves or their nests and babies (adult females, who are larger than males, can stand over 6 feet tall).
Most attacks on humans are a result of picture-takers getting too close to the birds, or from people feeding them, which has led the birds to associate humans with food and to get angry if they see a human and aren’t fed.
Despite the fact that there has only ever been one documented cassowary-related human fatality—a teenage male who was murdered in 1926 after attempting to assault a bird—videos posted online depict the birds kicking and gravely hurting intruders. A cassowary in Australia hurled a visitor down a 7-foot-high waterside cliff in 2012 when the bird became enraged at a passing photographer.
However, the hazards that humans pose to the birds, who would much rather remain alone, are far greater than those that humans pose to them. The habitats of many wild cassowaries in Australia are gravely endangered by development and human encroachment.
The primary cause of death for the birds, according to Rainforest Rescue, which provides funding for the Save the Cassowary initiative, is being struck by a car.
“An increasing human population in the southern cassowary’s home has had a serious impact on these magnificent birds,” the group says on its website. “Crossing roads puts cassowaries at risk of vehicle strikes, [and] roads can also increase the distance cassowaries must travel for fresh water and fruits.”
The birds play a major ecological role in their tropical homes by dispersing seeds from the fruit they eat around the forest floor, which in turn creates more growing plants for others to feed on.
Rainforest Rescue aims to buy back and restore previous forests that have been cleared by developers in addition to actively purchasing rainforest plots for sale to prevent businesses from buying property inside ecosystems for development.
Because one thing’s for certain: The rainforest would be a much less vibrant place without these stunning birds.
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