A World of Liver Exploration

I spent this past Christmas in the ancient Daintree Rainforest in the tropical northeast coast of Queensland, Australia. We went on a hike, guided by a national treasure of a woman named Pru. She was a retired high school principal and now a steward of the rainforest. I guess she was in her 70’s.

Daintree is home to the endangered cassowary, a huge, flightless bird, that sort of looks like an emu with peacock coloring. There are only about a thousand left. What does this have to do with the liver, you might be wondering? Because Pru told me that the cassowary is very important to the survival of the rainforest because of its large and overactive liver. My ears perked up, astonished that the liver could come up in conversation in the most ancient rainforest in the world. From that moment on, I was consumed with interest about the cassowary and its mega-juiced up liver. I wanted to stop right there and then and learn everything about this hepatic-wonder.

Oh the lovely cassowary,

its liver is worthy of inquiry.