Renewed plea to Aussies after 'terrifying' scene near beachfront caravan park
In Queensland, wildlife officials are begging the public to stop feeding and interacting with cassowaries, as it can 'negatively impact their health'.
After crazy footage emerged of an Australian woman running from a cassowary to save her McDonald's Big Mac, wildlife authorities have again renewed their plea to the public to steer clear of the huge birds — known as the world's most dangerous.
If encountered, it's best that people "appreciate cassowaries from afar", Nicola Beynon, head of campaigns at the Humane Society International Australia told Yahoo News after viewing the now-viral social media video.
Taken near the campgrounds and caravan park at Etty Beach in Queensland, footage shows the woman being chased by the giant animal, which clearly had its eye on her burger, with the young Aussie running in both fear and hysterics trying to save her lunch. "Just give it up! It's going to attack you!" the woman's friend is heard yelling at her in the footage.
While the woman depicted had the right idea in trying not to let the bird snatch her snack, it does highlight the fact it likely has already developed a taste for human food from being fed, Beynon said.
Such interactions should be avoided, Beynon advised, as "feeding them food outside of their diet can negatively impact their health." "A cassowary’s diet is relatively specialised, predominantly comprised of rainforest fruits," she told Yahoo.
By feeding cassowaries, they can learn to associate humans with food and become less wary or fearful of us, which can then pose a risk to both humans and the cassowaries.
"As they may try to approach humans more frequently," she said. "The best way to appreciate wild animals such as cassowaries is to appreciate them from afar."
Online, the incredible footage attracted hundreds of thousands of interactions, with people from all over the world responding to what they described as "terrifying" scenes. "Casually laughing in death's face is wild," one person wrote.
"Why do y'all casually have dinosaurs roaming the beach," asked another. "One of the few animals that even Steve Irwin wouldn’t mess with and you’re just LAUGHING at him," said another. "I mean in this economy, I don't blame her," joked a fourth.
The video, while clearly posted in jest, does in fact illustrate why people should not be feeding the wild birds, which have become emboldened to approach humans, likely from being fed and finding food at campsites in Queensland.
Why shouldn't people interact with cassowaries?
Earlier this month, the state's Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) repeated its warning to visitors to avoid cassowaries at near certain coastal campgrounds — their natural habitat — after an initial warning in August fell on deaf ears.
The Murray Falls Campground in the Girramay National Park, northwest of Cardwell in the state's north has dubbed "prime habitat" for the impressive birds, particularly in the vicinity of the national park, but cassowaries are known to frequent Mission Beach — about an hour's drive from Murray Falls — as one stunned camper recently found out.
"It is disappointing to see a cassowary in such close proximity to a camper, as seen in the [Mission Beach] photo, as this indicates it has been habituated to receiving food from humans," a DETSI spokesperson told Yahoo this month.
"Allowing cassowaries to associate humans with food is dangerous to both campers and the birds — and it is of particular concern for cassowaries with chicks, which are prone to becoming aggressive to protect their babies."
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