“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)

A drag performer named Reagan Holiday competes in a drag queen competition called MR(S) BK in the Brooklyn borough in New York City, U.S. on March 10, 2018. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Reuters)

Queen Ashi Jetsun Pema, 21, walks out after the marriage ceremony is completed on October 13, 2011 in Punakha, Bhutan. The Dzong is the same venue that hosted the King's historic coronation ceremony in 2008. The Oxford-educated king is popular in the country and the ceremony will be followed by celebration in the capital and countryside. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

(L-R) Shiri Appleby and Kevin Zegers of “What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage” attend the Pizza Hut Lounge at 2019 Comic-Con International: San Diego on July 19, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Pizza Hut)

Alexo Carmona, 2, looks at Coco, a two-year-old pony, in downtown Havana, in this March 6, 2015 file photo. Nearly a quarter of a million people follow the Reuters Instagram account – and it's still growing fast. To mark the mid-point of 2015, Reuters has compiled the twenty most-liked pictures so far. This picture was 20th most popular. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

This bat gives a cheeky smile as he gobbles down his food at Singapore Zoo, on September 10, 2013. (Photo by Benny Iskander/HotSpot Media)

French President Emmanuel Macron performs at the Shrine Africa in Lagos on July 3, 2018. French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Abuja for a meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari, in his latest attempt to forge closer ties with English- speaking Africa. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP Photo)

Beda Haemmerli drives his 1936 Ford Indy race car (front) through a steep turn during the Indianapolis in Oerlikon race demonstration at the Offene Rennbahn cycling track in Zurich's Oerlikon suburb, Switzerland July 24, 2018. (Photo by Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)