They can chase you through dense forests
at speeds faster than 48 km/h (30 mph).
Cassowaries are flightless birds,
but they sure can swim and jump.
And each foot has a 10 cm (4 in) claw
that can slice you open
with a single kick.
So you should’ve thought twice
before you tried to pet this bird.
Now you’ll need to keep watching
if you want to survive.
Cassowaries are beautiful,
colorful creatures.
The southern, or double-wattled cassowary
has a shimmering black body.
Their necks are blue,
turquoise and magenta,
and they have a horned crest
on top of their heads.
And these deadly birds
could be bigger than you are.
The largest ones can be
1.8 m (6 ft) tall
and weigh up to 73 kg (160 lb).
Cassowaries are living dinosaurs,
descendants of the only dinosaurs
who survived the Cretaceous mass
extinction event
66 million years ago.
In 1999,
biologist Chris Kofron
studied 150 recorded
cassowary attacks on humans.
He discovered that in 109 cases,
the fowl were soliciting food.
In areas where people have fed these birds,
some cassowaries behave aggressively
in expectation of food.
They will run up to you,
chase you
and even kick you
if you don't offer them food.
But if you bring fruit with you,
you’ll get into their good graces.
If you're facing a cassowary,
it's best not to crouch
or lie on the ground.
Cassowaries kick in a forward
and downward direction,
so putting yourself closer to the ground
would make you very vulnerable.
And don't turn your back on it,
unless you’re running as fast as you can
to escape an attack.
In April 2019, in Florida, U.S.,
a man who kept a cassowary on his farm
was killed by it
when he fell on the ground.
Don't forget that cassowaries are dinosaurs.
Even in your boldest moments,
you wouldn't consider messing
with a velociraptor, would you?
There have been two
recorded human deaths
due to cassowary attacks
after the people provoked the birds.
In Australia, in 1926,
a man was hunting cassowaries
with friends and struck the bird,
intending to kill it.
But the cassowary defended itself
with its sharp nails.
It slashed the man's jugular vein
and killed him.
If a cassowary attacks you,
run away from it.
These birds are fast on land and water,
so run as fast as you can.
But try to run strategically.
So if you see a road
or an area out of the jungle,
run toward it.
Chances are,
the cassowary will decide to stay back
in the forest
instead of following you outside
the perimeter of its habitat.
There are less than 4,600 Australian
Southern Cassowaries left in the wild.
And while you should be afraid
of this powerful fowl
and recognize it as a threat,
you should also appreciate its beauty
and feel lucky to have them around.
They are a connection to dinosaurs
and the Earth’s past.
And cassowaries
play an important role in biodiversity.
They do their part to regenerate
rainforest ecology
by eating the fruits of over 240 species
of rainforest plants
and excreting the seeds,
helping spread the plants.
You survived the attack
of this modern-day dinosaur.
So, could you survive being dropped
into the Jurassic period?
Find out here
on How to Survive.