Cassowary videos

[casuarius]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p9HbI0dV9E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=_Bspj6pVsOU

 

[cupman]

They are so cool. I read up on them one day at school between classes. I've heard you can get them in the United States it's just kind of a rare find... I'm sure you'd need some sort of permit, too. Lot of old wives' tales about them killing humans but I think it's only ever happened a couple times. If I had more money and more land I'd love to try and get some... heck I'd love to raise ostriches.. baby steps I guess. Chickens for now.


EDIT: I just noticed the youtube user is you, and the video description says they are your cassowaries. You are lucky. If you don't mind me asking, where do you live? Not specifically, just country or continent works.
EDIT2: Okay I just saw a video of a cassowary attack, I wouldn't want to mess with one. Maybe they could take down a small human.

 

[chickenzoo]

They are so pretty..... I wish they had an emus temperament.

 

[casuarius]

Well these are my mine, and I live in the US, but you practically can't get them in a sense because there are simply none left. I've been doing research on them in the US for yrs, and including mine, there are less than 30 left in the US between private keepers and zoos, and im one of 4 successfully breeding them. It's quite sad really, I wish more people would have taken interest in them before they got to this point. They are too far gone now to replenish despite what we hatch. The gene pool in the US is too small, and it wont be long before what we have left are either inbred out or die out of age. Most private keepers I have found only have one or two birds of one sex and still refuse to sale them to a greater cause. And yes, some areas require permits, but not many...they are still considered by the USDA as livestock in the same category as Ostrich, Emus, and Rheas...only Cassowaries were never bred for meat, strictly ornamental and zoological purposes.

 

[coffeepheasant]

Do have any information about the gene pool of all three species within europe. Also do you have other cassowary species or just the southern species??? How many cassowaries do you normally breed a year and how different from other ratites are they to care for????
coffee pheasant

 

[casuarius]

There isnt enough of them in Europe for me to specify a gene pool, but what exactly are you asking? I know here in the US, the birds all originated from Australia according to the recent DNA research done on the known birds...which are less than 30. There are at least 7 different gene pools here that I know of. But sadly only myself, and 3 other guys are successfully breeding them in the US. Europe has less of them than any other continent. There are a few zoos there with Double Wattles, and in Germany at Walsrode bird park, they have one pair of SIngle Wattles that they just placed together. In the Netherlands and Parrot park, they have 3 Dwarfs, all the same sex. Not many zoos are successfully breeding them except in Asia, in areas like the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, etc.. And I only know of one zoo in each of those countries producing them in small quantity. They are very different from other ratites because they are solitary animals. They absolutely have to be separated seasonally. And can only be put together during breeding season. They need constant shade, cant tolerate severe winters or cold climates without shelter and possibly need heat. Also the biggest issue with breeding them is finding a compatible pair. They will not breed with just any other Cassowary of the opposite sex. I have one female that im still trying to find a suitable male for...The problem is, that these birds are so rare, there are not many choices. Most of the eggs are infertile, but between my friend and I, we do hatch some every year. As far as Single Wattles and Dwarfs, they are basically not being bred in captivity. There are no Dwarfs left in the US, and only 3 Single Wattles are here, which belong to my friend. Two were recently imported, and arent of breeding age yet.

 

[Nicophorus]

Cant more breeding pairs be imported from those asian locations you mentioned? It does seem important that they be bred more in captivity, I sure as heck do not trust poor backwaters like New Guinea to keep the wild populations protected, even developed contries like South Africa are loseing the fight to keep a lot of their wild endangered speices going.

Is it impossible to import them?

 

[casuarius]

It is possible depending on the country of origin, and if you can find them at all. Papua New Guinea has a ban on exporting them which is absolutely ignorant and idiotic. So many breeders like myself would have already imported several...along with zoos around the world for breeding and preserving the species, but instead they just allow their natives to kill and eat them as much as they like with no limits. Same thing goes for many other very rare and soon to be wiped out species, such as the birds of paradise, which their natives kill simply for the feathers as head dresses, but they will not allow any of them to leave the country for zoological purposes. And of course Australia dont export anything either, especially their Cassowaries, which they estimate are only around 1200 left. Once they are classified as endangered, and placed on the CITES list, they won't be allowed to be exported from any country, and they are done for.

 

[Faith SL]

Those are some beautiful Cassowaries you have there Cassarius. Kudos to you for being one of the only people in the U.S. which successfully raises this beautiful and endangered species.

I have been fascinated by Ratites since I learned of their existence, especially kiwis, emus and of course the 'modern day raptors', the Cassowaries. Such amazing and beautiful birds. If only I had the land space, funds and specialized living setup for Cassowaries, they would be a dream to keep and it would be wonderful to support their species by hatching young. It is way out of my reach right now - I just hope that their species can hang on and dedicated people like yourself can continue and help build up a captive population to save them from extinction if it ever comes to that. Maybe someday when I retire and move to Hawaii I will buy some land and have a large stash of money to support breeding pairs of Cassowaries... lol.

I found this fairly detailed video on Cassowaries and theories of related evolution last week (warning everyone, this video has scenes of injured birds and very graphic scenes where birds are being dissected and scientifically examined. NOT for those faint of seeing a once living being be cut up on a table - you have been forewarned!) :

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Just wonderful, Casuarius! Yes, kudos: I wonder if readers comprehend just how very much harder it is, overall, to keep these birds.

Supreme Emu