Cassowaries in Queensland face habitat loss, vehicle strikes, and human conflict that threaten their small remaining populations and cause significant welfare harm to individual birds.
Cassowary welfare is threatened by a cycle of human habituation that begins with well-intentioned but harmful feeding. Fed cassowaries associate humans with food, approach roads and residential areas more frequently, and face higher vehicle strike risk. Vehicle-struck cassowaries are large enough that injuries are frequently severe and often non-survivable. Specialized rehabilitation facilities treat the survivors, but the welfare costs of transport, captivity during recovery, and the injuries themselves are significant. Prevention through habitat protection, road wildlife crossings, and strict prohibition of cassowary feeding is far preferable to rehabilitation as a welfare strategy.