A woman feeds a pig in her yard during spring flood in the Belarus village of Snyadin near Pripyat river, some 300 km south of Minsk, on April 16, 2013. (Photo by Viktor Drachev/AFP Photo)

“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 roadside currency exchange vendor sorts Indian currency notes at his stall in Agartala, India, December 6, 2016. (Photo by Jayanta Dey/Reuters)

Spanish soldiers of the 7th Airborne Light Infantry Brigade “Galicia” fire a howitzer Light Gun L118 during maneuvers with other units in preparation to NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in Zaragoza, Spain, April 19, 2016. (Photo by Javier Cebollada/EPA)

Palestinians scuffle with Israeli forces at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on December 8, 2017. Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces after calls for a “day of rage” as US President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital sent shockwaves through the region for a second day. (Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP Photo)

Kendall Jenner attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 90th Academy Awards at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, on March 4, 2018. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Bangladeshi Muslim devotees arrive in an over-crowded train to attend the final day of an Islamic congregations' first phase in Tongi, 20 kilometers (13 miles) north of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, January 10, 2016. The second phase of the annual event, one of the world's largest congregations of Muslims is scheduled to begin Friday. (Photo by A.M. Ahad/AP Photo)

Singer Paulina Rubio performs during the Latin Billboard Awards, Thursday, April 28, 2016 in Coral Gables, Fla. (Photo by Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo)