People enjoying the second day of the Greenman Festival in South Wales, Crickhowell, United Kingdom on August 20, 2021. (Photo by Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

In this Thursday, May 8, 2014 photo, guests look down from the Tilt!, a new tourist attraction that provides guests a unique view of the downtown area from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building, after it was unveiled in Chicago. People hold onto handrails as the glass and steel facade tilts forward 30 degrees. (Photo by Ashlee Rezin/AP Photo/Sun-Times Media)

Two race pigs jump over an obstacle during a rural festivity in reference to Maria Ascension in San Bernardino, Switzerland on Monday, August 15 2016. (Photo by Samuel Golay/Keystone/TI-Press via AP Photo)

A model presents a creation by Indian designer Amit Aggarwal during the grand finale of the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2020 in​ Mumbai, India, 16 February 2020. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA/EFE)

A British RAF Typhoon aircraft escorts a C130 transport plane on its way to Jordan for an airdrop of paratroopers from the U.K.'s 16th Air Assault Brigade as part of an exercise conducted jointly with Jordanian soldiers on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (Photo by Petros Karadjias/AP Photo)

Two women kiss each other during a flashmob on the ocassion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain, 17 May 2017. The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is held every year on 17 May. (Photo by Villar Lopez/EPA/EFE)

Lewis McKay, two, from East Kilbride, tries out the drums at the 2024 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow. on August 16, 2024 Some 204 bands, representing 13 nations and including 9,000 musicians, are competing over two days. (Photo by Wattie Cheung/The Times)