A man bathes in an ice hole in the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, January 13, 2021. The temperature in St. Petersburg is –15C ( 5 °F). (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

(L-R) American rappers Doja Cat and Tyga perform on the Coachella stage during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 24, 2022 in Indio, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Coachella)

Six new Canadians take their oath of citizenship while harnessed on the CN Tower's “Edgewalk” 356 metres (1,168 feet) above Toronto, Ontario, Canada in a still image from video October 9, 2018. (Photo by CN Tower/Handout via Reuters)

An Afghan man cleans the his courtyard partially submerged in flood water following the flash floods after heavy rainfall in Guzara district of Herat province on March 13, 2024. (Photo by Mohsen Karimi/AFP Photo)

Samba dancers pose for a photo ahead of the Notting Hill Carnival parade, in London, Britain on August 26, 2024. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Reuters)

A pilgrim holds up the cross after it was thrown by an Orthodox priest into the water, during an epiphany ceremony to bless the sea, on the southeast resort of Ayia Napa, Cyprus, Friday, January 6, 2023. By tradition, a crucifix is cast into the waters of a lake or river, and it is believed that the person who retrieves it will be freed from evil spirits and will be healthy through the year. (Photo by Petros Karadjias/AP Photo)

“Just hanging out”. As full autumn hits the valley of Hallingdal in Norway, this bear chills out in a tree which seems to barely cover its weight. Photo location: Flå, Hallingdal, Norway. (Photo and caption by Jorgen Tharaldsen/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“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)