Cassowary von links

This is a cassowary. Without any doubt one of the weirdest animals ever to run the gamut of evolution. The only tooled-up bird in the world, the cassowary may just attack you if it feels so inclined, and if it does you'd be wise to run. The cassowary has got a fetching helmet-like bony protrusion on top of its head and sports claws on its feet that can be up to 5 inches long. While it's normally shy and happy to forage around in the rainforest, it will turn into the aviary equivalent of a speed-fucked paranoid punk with a mohawk and switchblade if cornered. Particularly interesting is the cassowary's use of its claws when it feels threatened: if you're a human of normal height, the cassowary will jump at you (it is flightless but bloody heavy - it will completely total your car if you run into one, in a final act of defiance, post-mortem), throw its feet forward and cleanly slice you open from gullet to guts. Surely the only certified disemboweler of the animal kingdom. So when we were lucky enough to see one calmly crossing the road near Mission Beach 3 weeks ago, we stayed well away. They truly are magnificent birds.