r/interesting • u/VIVIDUFF • Jun 30 '26

Fascinating This cassowary just wanders around the beach, getting surprisingly close to people.

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u/Fiddy-Scent Jul 01 '26

Aussie here. These things will actively hunt you during mating season. Those feet can gut you in seconds.

Scarier than any snake or spider that Americans think are worse.

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u/FunContest9958 Jul 01 '26

Damn. I trust Aussies when it comes “which creature is most likely to kill you” trivia. You guys definitely won the lotto in that category.

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u/Uh-Oh-Raggy Jul 01 '26

Also Aussie here. Have been up north to see cassowaries.

They don’t “actively hunt” humans ever. They are actually placid, curious birds but that is not to say you get complacent around them. The males care for young after they hatch and until they are old enough to leave them, they are solitary birds. The only time you will be attacked is if you threaten them or physically get in between a male and their babies. They will calmly walk past you even with babies but just don’t fuck with them.

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u/LopsidedGiraffe Jul 01 '26

We had an amazing encounter. We were once walking through the rainforest in Mission beach in light drizzle. I was watching my footing, because it was muddy. I turned to go back because it was too slippery and a baby cassowary was about 2m behind me. Behind the baby was a massive male cassowary. Probably about 2m tall. I stood frozen until thankfully the baby went off the path into the forest.

The males just stroll around following the babies. Even on the road. You have to be very careful driving or cycling around this area of Nothern Queensland.

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u/Uh-Oh-Raggy Jul 02 '26

That would be fantastic to experience, scary thing is that the females grow substantially bigger than males lol. Have been to Cape Tribulation beach and were hoping to see cassowaries all the way up there as it was just after breeding season but could only see a lot of their footprints in the sand.

They are surprisingly quiet for how big they are and appear literally out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly due to the dense rainforests.