Casuarius casuarius sclaterii

(Salvadori, 1878)

Vernacular names
English : Southern cassowary
French : Casoar à casque

Classification
Class : Aves
Order : Casuariiformes
Family : Casuariidae
Notes : 4 other subspecies known. Subspecies tend to be considered invalid.

Identification
Adults can reach a total length of 1.70 m for a weight of 58 kg. High casque on crown. Head and neck naked blue and red with two long red wattles. Plumage is entirely black. This subspecies has very long parallel red wattles.

Range and habitat
This subspecies occurs in southern New Guinea. Species also found on Vogelkop peninsula, on Seram and Aru islands and in north-east Australia. It lives in tropical rainforests and savanna woodlands, up to 1200 meters.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : LEAST CONCERN
CITES : Not Listed
Status : The species has declined in most of its range because of persecution and habitat loss. Also vulnerable to predation by feral species.
Ex-Situ Programs : SSP in America, ESB in Europe

Observation
Zoo Ragunan (Indonesia), Zoo Surabaya (Indonesia), Taman Safari Cisarua (Indonesia), Jurong Bird Park (Singapore), Zoo Negara (Malaysia), Zoo Melaka (Malaysia)

 

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