There have been three separate instances of breaking and entering and attacks on North Queensland residents by cassowary birds since 2016.
In one case, a young cassowary named “Ruthie” was captured after she “threatened an older man and tried to enter his Innisfail home,” according to The Brisbane Times.
Just a week earlier, a male cassowary attacked a man and left him “bruised and battered,” while another of these brave birds made a surprise visit to a couple in Wongaling Beach home.
It sounds funny – but cassowaries are deadly birds. Their large talons have been shown seriously injure and can even kill a human if the animal becomes aggressive.
After the string of bizarre run-ins, the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) has now issued a statement urging residents to not feed wild cassowaries, saying 73 per cent of the attacks were motivated by the expectation of being fed.
Definitely time to put the bird seed away then.
