Cassowaries

Does anyone raise Cassowaries?
Terry Reed

Wouldn't that be a little dangerous?

I don't believe there are any private keepers or breeders of cassowaries in the US. I saw an ad for some for sale probably about 6 or 7 years ago, by someone in CA, but there is no telling if it was an honest ad or not. They were asking, I believe, $20,000 each on them. There are some zoos in various parts of the world that have them, but they are extremely rare, if nonexistant, in private collections.

And Householder Geckos, yes they would be dangerous, but no more so than any of the other dangerous large exotics people keep (lions, tigers, and bears...oh my *couldn't resist*). The only difference is that they are birds....giant....sharp-clawed birds...with a grudge against people I recently read an account of raising them in captivity online somewhere, where the author refers to the fact that even hand-reared cassowaries, which are just like any birds and imprint and become 'tame' with people as youngsters, undergo a complete 180 degree change in temperament once they reach sexual maturity. The once-docile birds turned into the typical terror with the 5" inner toe claw every time. Maybe it is best they are left out of private collections...lol. Stick with the other giant birds, as they can actually become fairly tame and may not want to kill you every time you enter the pen.

I just thought I'd update this thread a bit with a website I just found. Curiously enough, it outlines cassowary captive husbandry. Maybe you could get in contact with the author(s) and find out if any are available to private keepers? http://www.cassowary.com/workshop.html

There are several private breeders who keep cassowaries in Texas, Louisiana and California. They are a difficult species to have reproduce but it has happended many times and they are still pretty high priced; about $15,000 or more each. Males are difficult to come by as there is an excess of females.

Cool! and, I would like to add...the dangerous aspect of them is HIGHLY over-rated...I worked with several for quite a long time, and they rarely acted aggressively with me...much more interested in having their heads scratched and eating some fresh greens than ripping out my guts...but, I was always "casso- wary" (sorry, I know that is horrible...couldn't help it)
greg

Originally Posted by mrzoo

There are several private breeders who keep cassowaries in Texas, Louisiana and California. They are a difficult species to have reproduce but it has happended many times and they are still pretty high priced; about $15,000 or more each. Males are difficult to come by as there is an excess of females.

Do you know where I can get name, addresses, or websites for these privite breeders?
Terry Reed

I was actually just about to make another post to this thread since I just happened to run across a person very near me, roughly 30 min from here, who has a pair of cassowaries. Her name is Mary Lee Stropes, and she was really well-known in the ratite community, especially with rhea farmers, back in the early 90s. She acquired her pair from a breeder in CA, who evidently produces a number of birds or at least has produced many. She got them as adults in 2000, and has gotten eggs from them each year, but hasn't had any luck with hatching yet. She has a website, though not cassowary-oriented, at http://www.capybaras.org . She does ship animals, so if she ever gets any produced, she'll probably be willing to ship them off.

As for my comments on their aggression, I was going on what I've read and seen on TV. Now, after speaking with Mary Lee, I can further confirm that some, probably even most, cassowaries are extremely aggressive by nature. In her words, "that female will eat your lunch"...lol. Of course, there are individuals within each species and a high degree of variation between temperaments, but the fact that they have been known to attack at kill people with very little to no provocation warrants them the utmost of respect. According to that husbandry site I listed earlier in this thread, they've been known to even jump fences to go after other cassowaries or people. My suggestion if you ever keep them would be a high, at least 6', inner fence, surrounding by a second exterior fence, just incase. Also, some people have successfully removed the claws from their emus, rheas, and ostriches to make them safer to deal with (though I can only really see this being necessary for ostriches), so it should be possible to remove that inner toe spike from the cassowaries. This would best be done at an early age, before the birds are big enough to pose much of a risk in handling. I'm in no way recommending this be done, so don't jump my case about it..lol..but it's an option.

I'm planning to go visit Mary Lee this Sunday to see her menagerie, and will get to see the cassowaries and you can bet your rear I'll be taking tons of photos. I'll add another post to this with pictures that I take.

As I promised, here are the pictures I said I'd post. These guys are awesome, and yes the female is very, very aggressive. The male was sitting in the back of the pen the entire time brooding to eggs, but the female spent the entire time pacing the front of the pen, roughly 2 to 3' away from us. She was very intent on nailing somebody. She even leapt at the fence once as my roommate walked in front of the group to get a better angle on her. Because of frost bite damage, she was missing every claw except for the inner spike on the right foot. That's what they were told anyway when they got them. It is just as likely that she was declawed and they either missed that one or didn't do it properly and it grew back. We also were able to hear the female make her call, which she did right in front of us. She tucked her head down to her neck and let out a super low frequency rumble. I swear, you could feel it in the ground and in you guts. It was pretty cool. Anyway, the birds really were amazing and now I'm intent on getting a pair myself. I'm hoping to help them gather eggs this season so that maybe with a decent number they can get some chicks to hatch. Enjoy the photos.

Male and eggs. He tolerated the rooster amazingly well. I was expecting to see him punt it across the cage at any minute.










This was the look that said it all. She had this look on her face the majority of the time...almost like saying "come on, step in here."

There are some at the Bronx Zoo in NY. I was pretty close to them checking them out through a fence and I was still a tad nervous.