Endangered Species: *[NAME OF SPECIES]*

Endangered Species: Cassowary

Christians burg Elementary School Submitted by: 5th Dimension, Grade 5 Christiansburg, Virginia, USA

Cassowary
Birmingham Zoo

Why Study This Topic?	What Was Already Known	Search for Information	Description of Plant or Animal	Habitat Requirements
Adaptations	Reasons for Endangerment	Restoration Actions	What Was Learned	Conclusions from Research

Why Study This Topic?

    I would like to know how long the Cassowary has been on Planet Earth.
    I wonder if the Cassowary is the prey of any mammals.
     I also wonder where this flightless bird lives, and why it's endangered. Maybe the Cassowary is poached. or maybe it's the prey of too many animals.
     I want to know if the Cassowary flies South for the Winter, what it eats, how many eggs the female lays at a time, what season does the Cassowary lay the eggs, and in what season do the eggs hatch.
   I think the female roosts on the eggs while the male hunts for food.
     I'm interested in the Cassowary because it's endangered. I like to learn about endangered species, because I would like to help save them, and go to college to be an endangered species specialist.
     I think the Cassowary is a marvelous bird.

What Was Already Known

    Before research, I knew nothing about the Cassowary. I didn't even know that there was a such thing as a Cassowary.
   Now, I know that my animal lives in Australia. The Cassowary eats primarily tropical fruits that have fallen from the trees in the rain forest. The Cassowary is Australia's second largest bird. The Cassowary breeds any where from June to October. Four eggs are usually laid. The Cassowary is endangered because of loss of its habitat, dog attacks, car accidents, and accidental capture in pig traps.
    I know a way you could help prevent these accidents. The Cassowary should be put in a refuge. Then none of these accidents would occur.

Search for Information

I had no information on the Cassowary, so I looked on the internet. I searchedat Yahooligans. I had no luck at all. Then I decided to go to Yahoo! That's where I found most of my information. I decided to look for more information at Ebscohost. I found two more pages there. I also had no luck at the school's library.

Description of Plant or Animal

    The Cassowary can get very large in size, usually up to 220 pounds and about four and one half to five feet tall.
    Both sexes have a grayish bony helmet upon their heads.
    The Cassowary is shaped like mop.
    The Cassowary's head is a bluish grayish color, And it's body is black.The Cassowary's gobbler is a reddish - pinkish color.

Habitat Requirements

    The Cassowary primarily eats fallen fruits from trees in the Tropical Rain forest of Australia. The Cassowary also eats small dead mammals. The Cassowary drinks water from nearby rivers.
    The Cassowary lives by rivers. The Cassowary nests high in trees.
    The Cassowary hides in caves for shelter. It also hides under thick tropical rain forest trees.

Adaptations

    The Cassowary is the prey of many wild dogs. The Cassowary is also the prey of men
Cassowaries have been put in refuges tot take care of those problems.
    The Cassowary camouflaged to blend in with the rain forest tropical plants.
    The Cassowary is brownish blackish and has a blue and gray colored head. I t also has a redish-pinkish gobbler hanging from it's neck.

Reasons for Endangerment

    The Cassowary is endangered because of loss of habitat, attacks by wild dogs, accidentally caught in pig traps, and road accidents.
    The Cassowary lost its habitat because of land clearing and forest fires.
    The Cassowary also walks into pig traps and gets killed.
    Most Cassowaries are in refuges. Those that live in refuges have been saved from endangerment.

Restoration Actions

There are now laws against poaching Cassowaries. Even even if someone wanted to poach them, they couldn't because the Cassowaries have been put in several different refuges to protect the Cassowary from poachers and other endangerments.

What Was Learned

Cassowaries lives in the Tropical rain forests of Australia.
The Cassowary eats primarily fallen fruits from tropical trees in the rain forest. It also occasionally eats small dead mammals. The Cassowary lives near lakes and rivers , and that's where it gets water to drink.
Female Cassowaries lay eggs, anywhere from June to October. There is usually four eggs laid at a time. The Cassowary hides in caves for shelter. Conclusions From Research

By doing research on the Cassowary, I have become more aware of how to do research on the Internet. I have also had enough experience to do research on almost anything.

http://www.birminghamzoo.com/ao/bird/casswry.htm
http://sas.epnet.com/sas/search_primary.asp?db=EBSCO+Animals

Return to Bird page. If you would like to add to these Endangered Species pages then email your contributions to Christiansburg Elementary

Christians burg Elementary

Last updated on February 3, 2000