The large flightless bird that killed an Alachua man will be up for auction along with the rest of his exotic and rare animals Saturday.
The sale will be held at noon by Gulf Coast Livestock Auction at 3856 State Road 53 S. Madison, Florida, which is just south of the Florida-Georgia border, according to a Gulf Coast Livestock Auction Facebook post.
The auction will include about 100 animals that will be auctioned, including two cassowaries, macaws, lemurs, emu chicks and zebu bulls, the post said.
Marvin Hajos, 75, was killed April 12 by his cassowary bird after he may have tried to get one of the eggs out of its cage.
Cassowaries are native to Australia and New Guinea. The San Diego Zoo calls the cassowary the world’s most dangerous bird.
The livestock auction declined to comment, saying Hajos’ family asked for the organization not to speak to the media. The group said it will find new homes for all the animals.
Most of the animals require a permit to own them in Florida, said John Cole, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission operations specialist. Anyone purchasing an animal must present the proper permits or licenses.
Hajos had all the proper permits to own the animals, Cole said. He also said that auctioning off animals after the owner dies is common.
“It’s just a messed up situation how it happened,” Cole said. “It’s never planned to happen, but it can happen.”
FILE - In this June 30, 2015, file photo, an endangered cassowary roams in the Daintree National Forest, Australia. On Friday, April 12, 2019, a cassowary, a large, flightless bird native to Australia and New Guinea, killed its owner when it attacked him after he fell on his property near Gainesville, Fla. Cassowaries are similar to emus and stand up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall and weigh up to 130 pounds (59 kilograms). (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)
