Cassowaries are the world's most dangerous birds, requiring highly specialised zoo management that addresses both their welfare needs and the very real safety risk they pose to keepers and the public.
Cassowary welfare in captivity is inseparable from safety management. The protected contact approach — where keepers never share the same unbarricaded space as the bird — limits the enrichment and health monitoring interactions possible with more handler-habituated species. This creates welfare challenges: cassowaries are intelligent, exploratory birds that benefit from environmental complexity and keeper interaction, but the interaction must be designed around barriers. Exhibit design must provide the dense, multilayered vegetation that cassowaries use in the wild for cover, thermoregulation, and visual privacy. Water features for bathing are an important welfare provision. Diet must replicate the large-fruited tropical plant diet of wild cassowaries, with appropriate protein supplementation. Social management is particularly challenging: cassowaries are solitary and territorial, and cohabitation of adults requires very large, well-resourced exhibits to prevent serious injury.