• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2017	Least Concern
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type	shelf island	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	498,000 km2	medium
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	10000-19999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2015
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	1978-2008
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Generation length	10 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-

Population justification:

The overall mean density estimate in the one quantitative survey was 7.4 (5.7-9.6) per km² (Pangau-Adam et al. 2015). This is likely optimal habitat and given that it is likely to occupy only a proportion of its Extent of Occurrence, the population is precautionarily estimated to number 10,000-19,999 mature individuals (G. Dutson in litt. 2016).

Trend justification: It is suspected to be declining at a moderately rapid rate, given its long generation time and the rates of habitat loss and degradation. Across north coastal Papua New Guinea (West Sepik, East Sepik and Madang provinces), forest loss was 1.4% and plus 3.5% forest degradation between 2002 and 2014 (Bryan and Shearman 2015); rates for Indonesian New Guinea are not quantified but appear to be similar. Given its likely persistence at lower population densities in logged forest, and a slowly increasing rate of hunting, its population is precautionarily suspected to be declining at 1-10% over three generations (30 years).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Indonesia	extant	native		yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 700 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Handicrafts, jewellery, etc.	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Northern Cassowary Casuarius unappendiculatus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-cassowary-casuarius-unappendiculatus on 15/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 15/12/2024.