Southern cassowaries, the world's most dangerous birds, are a keystone rainforest species in Australia and New Guinea facing habitat loss and vehicle strikes that threaten both individual welfare and ecosystem function.
Cassowaries injured by vehicles or dogs face significant welfare challenges given their size and the limited veterinary expertise available for this species. Orphaned cassowary chicks require intensive hand-rearing by trained wildlife carers. Vehicle strikes often cause leg injuries that permanently impair the locomotion of these birds, which naturally range over large territories. The keystone ecological role of cassowaries means that individual welfare harms have ecosystem-level consequences as rainforest plant communities lose their most important seed disperser.