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Cassowary followed Qld bushwalkers

Fraser BartonAAP
Four bushwalkers were stalked by a cassowary along a track in the Atherton Tablelands.
Camera IconFour bushwalkers were stalked by a cassowary along a track in the Atherton Tablelands. Credit: AAP

People are being urged not to feed cassowaries following a close encounter between bushwalkers and one of the large birds near Cairns.

Four bushwalkers were stalked by a cassowary for seven minutes along a track in the Atherton Tablelands as the animal approached within a metre of the group.

The normally shy, flightless birds can grow to be almost two metres tall and weigh up to 60 kilograms.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service senior officer Dinouk Perera says the video taken indicates the cassowary has become habituated to being fed by people.

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"A cassowary that wasn't habituated would never approach bushwalkers, and would have retreated into the forest to avoid such an encounter," he said.

"Cassowaries are unpredictable, potentially dangerous animals and habituated birds have been known to act aggressively and lash out if they don't receive a feed when confronting people in the forest.

"Feeding cassowaries can significantly change their behaviour in such a way that other people will be placed at risk of being approached and potentially attacked by the birds.

"People need to understand that male cassowaries teach their chicks how to find natural foods in the forest, and if the male is being fed by people, his chicks will learn to approach people for food."

The last death caused by a cassowary in Australia was in 1926, but there have been up to 150 attacks on humans according to a QPWS study in 1999.

The animal is classified as endangered and when the bird is deliberately fed by people they become more vulnerable to vehicle strikes or dog attacks.

Forty-six cassowaries have been killed or injured by vehicle strikes in the past two years in north Queensland and wildlife officers believe many of those cassowaries had been habituated by people deliberately feeding them.

In a recent incident in north Queensland a cassowary was euthanised following a vehicle strike.

The maximum penalty for deliberate feeding of cassowaries is $5222.

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