“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)

Cars float up from a car garage in a mixture of storm water and gasoline in lower Manhattan as workers begin the process of pumping out the mess. (Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

A couple of monkeys look from inside their cage at a rescue and rehabilitation center in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, November 22, 2014. Elba Munoz who runs the center, says that one of the goals of the Center for the Rescue and Rehabilitation of Primates is to stop the trafficking of the animals. (Photo by Luis Hidalgo/AP Photo)

Fans dressed in Spider-Man outfits gather at a promotional event for the forthcoming “Spider-Man: Homecoming” movie at the Art Science Museum in Singapore on June 7, 2017. The movie will be shown in cinemas around the world from July 5 onwards. (Photo by Toh Ting Wei/AFP Photo)

Anastassia Elias spends hours painstakingly cutting out tiny shapes to make detailed models – and then fits them inside used toilet rolls. Elias, 37, uses paper the same color as the cardboard tubes to build up the intricate scenes from wildlife to construction sites. Photo: Toilet paper roll art of African wildlife. (Photo by Anastassia Elias/Caters News)

In this photograph taken on December 14, 2016, an Indian craftsman works on unfinished cricket bats in a factory in Meerut, some 70 kms north- east of New Delhi. (Photo by Dominique Faget/AFP Photo)

An “asparagus eating contest” made of asparagus and carved pumpkins is on display on the sidelines of the Giant Vegetable Competition in Klaistow, northeastern Germany, on September 20, 2015. The vegetable giants compete in seven categories. (Photo by Bernd Settnik/AFP Photo)