“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)

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Two men ride a motorcycle away from a fire in Athens on Friday, July 17, 2015. Greek firefighters battled large brush and forest fires on the outskirts of Athens and in the country's southern Peloponnese region Friday, where flames forced the evacuation of at least three villages and two summer camps. (Photo by Giorgos Bamboukos/InTime News via AP Photo)

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Performers from the Joles ethnic group in Gambia prepare to perform with sharp blades which they say will demonstrate the magic powers of a spiritual water, that will make them immune to the cuts, during a campaign rally by incumbent President Yahya Jammeh, leader of the APRC (The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction) in Bikama on November 24, 2016. As electoral favorite Jammeh seeks his fifth term in power, a two-week campaign period will come to an end next week ahead of the December 1st presidential election with political leaders canvassing in rural areas. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

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