What is surprising is that despite being very aggressive and territorial, the cassowary was the first bird to be domesticated by humans.
According to the latest research by Kristina Douglass – assistant professor of anthropology and African studies at Penn State University, USA, the first bird species humans raised may have been the cassowary.
Ostriches are often considered the most dangerous birds in the world because they have toes with long, dagger-like claws.
The neck and head of the cassowary have a characteristic blue color – Photo: GETTY IMAGES
This bird has a highly territorial personality, is very aggressive and is often compared to dinosaurs in appearance. Therefore, it is surprising that this bird was domesticated.
The dagger-like claws of the cassowary – Photo: GETTY IMAGES
More than 1,000 fossilized eggshell fragments – ranging in age from 18,000 to 6,000 years old – were recently unearthed from two rock shelters used by hunter-gatherers in New Guinea.
These people were originally able to collect the eggs of giant flightless birds before they hatched, and then raised them until they reached adulthood.
Green eggs of cassowary – Photo: PINTEREST
According to previous studies, humans are believed to have domesticated the first birds no more than 9,500 years ago.
Currently, the number of cassowaries in the wild is only 20-30% – Photo: CNN
Researchers say that while a cassowary can be aggressive (the animal had an attack that killed a man in Florida in 2019), it is easily “impressive” and becomes attached to the first creature it sees after birth. And this feeling remains until the animal becomes an adult.
