Cassowaries are shy and reclusive animals, but once they are threatened and cornered, they become aggressive. Wildlife biologists consider them as the world’s most dangerous bird. When threatened, they strike back with powerful head-butts and pecks; they even have a powerful claw in their inner toe  which can slice open a human belly or throat.

Cassowaries are part of the flightless and mostly long-legged ratite family. This means that they are the cousins of emus, rheas, ostriches, and kiwis. They are also cousins of the extinct moas and elephant birds.