Southern Cassowary

Think of a bird with the legs of an ostrich and a large body covered in black feathers which resembles a bad Beatles hair cut or toupee. It has a long blue wrinkled neck which tapers down into two long red wattles and to top it off there is a large growth on the top of the head called a casque which resembles a dinosaur's head plate. They can grow over six feet tall with a weight of sixty pounds. This is truly a strange yet lovely bird.


Let's say your a nice looking male Cassowary, and you feel that the ladies are checking you out. You build a nice home for the children and suddenly the day comes, that day you have anticipated all year, and not one but two beauties come your way for a good time.
Next thing you know, they're gone and you're stuck on the nest sitting on the eggs for the next two months wondering what happened.
After the chicks are born, the male Cassowary raises them for a year or longer, and they are quite the protective father until that fateful day they leave the nest.
At this point, they start looking for some more ladies and the cycle starts all over again.



As the video shows below, these are not animals that people tend to go near. They will injure and kill humans, and I for one would stay clear, though I've read they are normally timid and are not out to destroy all humans they encounter. 

The sad news is this bird is in great danger of  extinction, as it's habitat is shrinking and if they are not looked after will go the same way as the Dodo bird. 
Right now their status is vulnerable and that's a threat that we should all care about.