The cassowary is a central mythic being of the Angan initiation cosmos. A large, solitary and dangerous forest bird, it is imagined as a wild female that reproduces without a mate, an image of autonomous female fertility set against the male ritual order. Among the Baruya, described by Maurice Godelier, the cassowary is linked with reclusive shaman-women and with the female powers the men's cult seeks to master, while among the Ankave, described by Pascale Bonnemere, and other Angan groups its blood and bones connect it to menstruation and to the making of the sacred flutes. Sources treat it as an emblematic species-being rather than a single named individual.