A narrow strip of clouds illuminated in the light of sunset before approaching rain clouds over an alley near Sieversdorf district Oder-Spree, Brandenburg, Germany on July 14, 2016. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/DPA)

Russian artist Maria Gasanova adjusts her make-up as she finishes “The Siberian Beauty” body art work from her “The Alive Painting” series before the opening ceremony of the Cultural Universiade as part of preparation for the 2019 Winter Universiade Krasnoyarsk, in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, December 9, 2016. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

“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 undated photo made available by journal Nature on January 15, 2014, a northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) flies in Tuscany, Italy. A new study released Wednesday, January 15, 2014 says the birds choreograph the flapping of their wings, getting a boost from an updraft of air in the wake of the flapping wings by flying behind the first bird and off to the side. When a flock of birds take advantage of these aerodynamics, they form a V. (Photo by Markus Unsöld/AP Photo)

People watch dragon dance performance in front of a business establishment in celebration of Chinese New Year at Manila's Chinatown district of Binondo, Philippines, Friday, January 31, 2014. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

Ukrainian state emblem is seen on a gun's holster as soldiers guard naval base in the village of Novoozernoye, some 91 km west of Crimean capital Simferopol, Ukraine, on Monday, March 3, 2014. Ukraine says Russian forces controlling the strategic region of Crimea are demanding that the crew of two Ukrainian warships in Sevastopol's harbor must surrender. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo)

A boy looks at a six-metre tall luminescent puppet, operated by ten performers, during a preview of Vivid Sydney, promoted as the world's largest festival of light, music and ideas, in Sydney, Australia on May 23, 2018. “Vivid” is a major outdoor cultural event featuring light installations and projections with the annual event this year running from May 25 to June 16, 2018. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

“Leopard Hunting a Stork”. “One-shot capture. I watched the leopard stalking the stork, I only had time to focus at 400mm, no time to change to high speed, I watched the stork, and as soon as it flapped its wings, I shot one shot”. (Photo by Paul Rifkin/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)