It started at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary near Brisbane about three months ago.

I was just walking around the grounds, checking out the kangaroos with hopes of holding my first koala when I saw this strange bird I thought was a variation of an emu.

My friend and I stared at it for quite a long time in amazement.

It was huge, had fur-like black feathers on its mid section and was colored red and blue on its head. The sign next to its cage said cassowary.

I tried to remember the name, but stumbled over the word and its pronunciation whenever I talked about it to others in the following months. I mentioned it to a few Aussies and they knew right off the bat what it was. So how had I never heard of the world heaviest bird.

All my life I only saw photos of kangaroos and koalas when it came to Australia. But they’re a dime a dozen. This thing is so much better.

My cassowary knowledge only expanded when I arrived in Mission Beach to find funny cassowary crossing signs. The signs were cute, but the facts were not.

A comical cassowary warning sign in Mission Beach, QLD. Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

It’s estimated between 1,000-1,500 of the endangered species are left in Australia. To make matters worse, a mass amount of plant life in the Wet Tropics depend on cassowaries for livelihood.

“These huge birds are the only animals capable of distributing the seeds of more than 70 species of trees whose fruit is too large for any other forest dwelling animal to eat and relocate.” -Wetropics. gov.au

“The smell from the dung keeps seed predators, such as the white tailed rat, away from the seeds and the fertiliser helps to keep the seed moist and feed the germinating seedling. The seed remains in the cassowary’s gut for approximately 10 hours, ensuring they are deposited some distance away from the parent tree.”-RainforestRescue.org.au

Since these facts were discovered Australians have gone above and beyond to protect the species. The cassowary’s main threats are dogs and drivers. Drivers who hit cassowaries are heavily fined and even more heavily hated. Even if it’s not their fault, someone who hits a cassowary in Mission Beach might as well just leave town for good.

Hugging a to-size cassowary statue while waiting for the ferry across the Daintree to Cape Tribulation.-Photo by Bobbi-Jo O'Gilvie

Dogs are a threat to cassowaries, but mainly their eggs and mainly when dogs are in packs. A single dog most likely could not take on a cassowary. This is one feisty bird.

Not overtly aggressive, but territorial, especially over their young, the cassowary will stab predators in the stomach with its sharp claw.

Unlike a lot of species, it’s not the ladies protecting their spawn. After mating with a male, the female moves on to other partners. Basically, the female cassowary is pimp!

This bird is feirce.-Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

So many interesting facts surround this flightless bird and so much is yet to be discovered. In Queensland there is almost a complete culture surrounding these birds.

A towering giant cassowary statue stands tall in Mission Beach and a world famous cassowary road sign makes for an opportune photo op in Cape Tribulation.

The BIG cassowary in Mission Beach.-Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

The latter started as a regular “warning cassowary crossing” sign, but turned into a phenomenon when a local fisherman drew in comical before and after images on the sign. Now it’s hard to get through Cape Tribulation without stopping to take a photo of the sign.

The famous cassowary crossing sign before and after sign in Cape Tribulation.-Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

Cape Tribulation takes its cassowary precautions extremely serious. Drivers can barely go 50 meters without seeing  a sign or hitting a speed bump. And this isn’t just any speed bump. It’s a speed bump with rocks in it.

Calling the World-Heritage listed Wet Tropics their home, it’s possible to see a cassowary almost anywhere around the rainforest in Far North Queensland, but highly unlikely. As mentioned before, not many are left. You’re best chances of spotting a cassowary would be in Mission Beach and Cape Tribulation.

I’ve been lucky enough to see two cassowaries in the wild, one in Mission Beach and another in Cape Tribulation. Just to prove that it is possible.

My first cassowary spotting in Mission Beach, QLD.-Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

So keep you’re eyes open. Not only to catch a peak of the massive bird in the wild, but also to keep the endangered species protected.