The cassowaries (IPA: /,kæsɵwæri/) are ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands, and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today. The most common of these, the southern cassowary, is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu. Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food including shoots, grass seeds, and fungi in addition to invertebrat...

The Emu War, also known as the Great Emu War, was a nuisance wildlife management operation undertaken in Australia over the latter part of 1932 to address public concern over the number of emus said to be running amok in the Campion district of Western Australia. The attempts to curb the population of emus, a large flightless bird indigenous to Australia, employed soldiers armed with machine guns—leading the media to adopt the name "Emu War" when referring to the incident. Background Following World War I, large numbers of ex-soldiers from Australia, along with a number of British vet...