R. I. P. Mrs Cassowary

Yesterday we had the sad news that Mrs Cassowary's body had been found on a property not far from our house. We had not seen her for about 3 weeks and have been wondering what has become of her. An autopsy may reveal the cause of her death.

This bird was unusually placid and often appeared with the male and with the chicks from time to time. This is the second adult female cassowary to die in this area in the past year. The other female was hit by a car on Black Mtn Road.

This leaves the male cassowary, and his sole chick, as the last adult in the area.

Cassowaries have been the subject of many entries on this blog. Simply search for "Cassowaries" and you can access all of them.

The autopsy reveals that the bird had a perforated bowel and died of blood poisoning. There was nothing in the gut to indicate what cause her malady.

At least she was not shot nor attacked by dogs.
DR