“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)

New York Sports Club Gets In The Election Spirit With Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump Boxing Inspired Class on October 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for DKC for New York Sports Clubs)

Lindsay Mann (L) and Anabella Mowbray kiss as they take photos of themselves laying in the confetti on 7th Avenue in Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York January 1, 2015. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

French National Front party deputy Marion Marechal-Le Pen attends the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris April 14, 2015. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

Maasai men of Matapato jostle to parade as they attend the Olng'esherr (meat-eating) passage ceremony to unite two age-sets; the older Ilpaamu and the younger Ilaitete into senior elderhood as the final rite of passage, in Maparasha hills of Kajiado, Kenya on September 23, 2020. Thousands of Maasai men clad in red and purple shawls and with their heads coated in red ochre gathered this week for a ceremony that transforms them from Moran (warriors) to Mzee (elders). (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

People pose for photos among a field of cosmos flowers in a car park before high-rise apartment buildings in Goyang, west of Seoul on September 22, 2020. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

An anti-lockdown activist dressed as Father Christmas is arrested in Grosvenor Square during a demonstration in London, England, on November 28, 2020. London is to return to “Tier 2” or “high alert” covid-19 restrictions once the current England-wide coronavirus lockdown ends next Wednesday. All three of the tiers, assigned to local authorities across England, have been strengthened since the lockdown began on November 5, however, with the main impacts to be felt by the hospitality sector. (Photo by Mark Thomas/i-Images)

Dancers wearing face shields to prevent the spread of the coronavirus perform during an exercise in Tangerang, Indonesia, Saturday, November 28, 2020, (Photo by Tatan Syuflana/AP Photo)