Southern cassowaries are large flightless birds whose welfare in fragmented Queensland rainforest depends on maintaining connected habitat and reducing road and dog mortality.
Individual cassowaries killed by vehicles or dogs represent welfare harm compounded by conservation significance — each individual is critical to both population viability and rainforest ecosystem function. Road strikes cause traumatic injuries that are often fatal. Dogs attacking cassowaries cause severe wounds that can kill or permanently disable these large birds. Reducing vehicle speed in cassowary zones, responsible dog management in cassowary habitat, and vegetation restoration that maintains rainforest connectivity are the most impactful welfare interventions available.