It’s well known that cassowaries can be dangerous, and indeed together with ostriches they are the only birds known to have definitely killed humans*. On mainland Australia, the most recent recorded fatality occurred in April 1926 when 16-year-old Phillip McClean received an injury to the throat after running from a cassowary and falling to the ground. I’ve also encountered references to the death of a zookeeper named Luke James who was apparently killed by a captive cassowary, but have only read about this online and am not sure as to its reliability (readers: please let me know if have access to any further information on this case).
