Editing Cassowary (section)

== Status and conservation ==
[[File:Road sign -Cairns, Queensland, Australia-26Oct2007.jpg|thumb|A road sign in [[Cairns]], [[Queensland]], Australia]]
[[File:Southern Cassowary 7071.jpg|right|thumb|A free-ranging cassowary wandering in a tourist park at Etty Bay, Queensland]]
The southern cassowary is endangered in Queensland. Kofron and Chapman, when they assessed the decline of this species, found that of the former cassowary habitat, only 20–25% remains. Habitat loss and fragmentation is the primary cause of decline.{{sfnp|Kofron|Chapman|2006|}} They then studied 140 cases of cassowary mortality, and found that motor-vehicle strikes accounted for 55% of the deaths, and dog attacks produced another 18%. Remaining causes of death included hunting (five cases), entanglement in wire (one case), the removal of cassowaries that attacked humans (four cases), and natural causes (18 cases), including tuberculosis (four cases). The cause for 14 cases was indicated as "for unknown reasons".{{sfnp|Kofron|Chapman|2006|}}

Hand feeding cassowaries poses a significant threat to their survival because it lures them into suburban areas. There, the birds are more susceptible to encounters with vehicles and dogs.{{sfnp|Borrell|2008|}} Contact with humans encourages cassowaries to take food from picnic tables. [[Feral pig]]s also are a significant threat to their survival. They destroy nests and eggs of cassowaries, but their worst effect is as competitors for food, which may be catastrophic for the cassowaries during lean times.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-05-30|title=Feral pigs decimating cassowaries in world heritage-listed Daintree, filmmaker says|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-30/pigs-decimating-cassowaries-in-world-heritage-listed-daintree/9815164|access-date=2021-01-28|newspaper=ABC News|language=en-AU|last1=Sexton-Mcgrath|first1=Kristy|last2=Stephen|first2=Adam}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=International)|first=BirdLife International (BirdLife)|date=2018-08-09|title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Casuarius casuarius|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/en|access-date=2021-01-28|website=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species}}</ref>

In February 2011, [[Cyclone Yasi]] destroyed a large area of cassowary habitat, endangering 200 of the birds – about 10% of the total Australian population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/cyclone-puts-cassowary-in-greater-peril-2226790.html|title=Cyclone puts cassowary in greater peril|work=The Independent|date=February 27, 2011}}</ref>

The Mission Beach community in far north Queensland holds an annual Cassowary Festival in September, where funds are raised to map the bird's habitat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cassowary carnival: Queensland town celebrates a famous flightless bird |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/nitv-radio/en/podcast-episode/cassowary-carnival-queensland-town-celebrates-a-famous-flightless-bird/cxmigfom6 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=SBS Language |language=en}}</ref>

Concerns have been raised about cassowaries as a potential invasive species on the island of [[Tasmania]].<ref name=nre>{{cite web|title=PEST RISK ASSESSMENT Southern Cassowary|publisher= Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment|pages=10–11|url=https://nre.tas.gov.au/Documents/Cassowary_risk-assessment.pdf|date=2011}}</ref> According to the [[Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment]] from [[Hobart]], risk assessments on the cassowary as a potential invasive pest states that, while the birds may have trouble establishing a stable population on the island, they might be a destructive element to Tasmania's ecological diversity; the assessment recommends strict import controls.<ref name=nre/> Cassowaries would be the island's largest and most dominant native terrestrial animal and could displace smaller animals in the same ecological niche.<ref name=nre/> Frugivores such as the [[common brushtail possum]], [[common ringtail possum]], [[eastern pygmy possum]] and the [[little pygmy possum]] could be denied access to fruit, which they depend upon.<ref name=nre/>

However, since Tasmania lacks the same levels of fruit diversity as Queensland and New Guinea, assessments state that the birds might adapt by also eating invertebrates and small vertebrates. This could lead to competition with the island's endemic insectivores, such as the [[eastern quoll]], [[southern brown bandicoot]], and [[eastern barred bandicoot]].<ref name=nre/>