The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week’s issue is written by Natasha Frost, a reporter with the Australia bureau. Meet an Australian supermodel for the ages: six feet tall with a sculptured visage, endless legs and piercing orange eyes. “They’re the glamour animal for the rainforest, here in North Queensland,” said Justin McMahon, a land manager for Rainforest Rescue, an environmental nonprofit that protects and restores the Australian rainforest. But the southern cassowary, a secretive, emu-like bird famed for its killer kick and razor-sharp, throat-slitting talons on each foot, isn’t just a pretty face.

Source: New York Times June 30, 2023 16:06 UTC