“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)

Meet Bob, an adorable Golden Retriever that lives in Brazil with his 9 best friends; 8 birds and one hamster to be exact. Bob likes to share pictures of him and his friends on Facebook and Instagram, where he has over 169,000 followers!

At first glance, you may think you’re just gazing upon serene sunsets, breathtaking landscapes and peaceful coves of distant lands. It’s not until you realise the settings are made entirely from food that you can feast your eyes over the magnificence of Carl Warner’s “foodscapes”. Photo: “Salami Tuscany”. (Photo by Carl Warner)

Two workers shovel mud from the river as they look for gold on March 25, 2014 in Lampang, Thailand. Thai villagers from Wang Nuea, North of Thailand, look for gold in the river every year during the drought season. They are able to make an average around USD 15 per day, however two years ago they reached USD 200 in one day due to the river level dropping so much. The workers begin to search for gold at 10 AM and work until sunset, often working second jobs in the day in order to survive. (Photo by Borja Sanchez-Trillo/Getty Images)

“Hey! I'm Thomas Shahan, an artist and macrophotographer from Oklahoma. In my spare time over the past few years, I've been shooting portraiture of local arthropods. Why would I devote countless hours to tramping through forests, fields and the like searching for insects and spiders? Well, despite some common beliefs, arthropods (members of the phylum Arthropoda – insects, spiders, crustaceans...) represent an endlessly varied, wildly beautiful and fascinating bunch of animals with surprisingly personable faces and behavior. Often, all it takes is simply inspecting their lives on a closer level to turn repulsion to reverence”. – Thomas Shahan

Photo: Adult Male Jumping Spider at Sunset – Phidippus mystaceus. (Photo by Thomas Shahan; Source: Flickr)

A picture made available on 20 June 2016 shows people praying as they wait to break the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 June 2016. Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by praying during the night time and abstaining from eating and drinking during the period between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and it is believed that the Koran's first verse was revealed during its last 10 nights. (Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA)

A 40-tonne humpback launching out of the water in an incredible breach in New South Wales, Australia on October 2022 in front of a sunset. The humpback whale can grow up to 56 feet long and typically covers 9,900 miles a year as it travels through the oceans of the world. Humpback whales are a species of Baleen whale, meaning they don't have teeth. Instead, they have baleen which helps them to filter feed. Their main source of food is krill or tiny bait fish. (Photo by Jodie Lowe/Media Drum Images)

Olga Conover of Palm Bay, Fla., walks down the bridge at sunset carrying her merged American-Ukraine flag near the end of a march marking the one-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine, late Thursday afternoon, February 23, 2022, in Melbourne, Fla. A small but passionate group of Ukraine supporters took the Melbourne Causeway to show their support, organized by the Ukrainian Space Coast group. (Photo by Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP Photo)