“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 Chinese man uses an old film camera to take a picture of relatives near the Forbidden City on March 27, 2014 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

In this Thursday, May 8, 2014 photo, guests look down from the Tilt!, a new tourist attraction that provides guests a unique view of the downtown area from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building, after it was unveiled in Chicago. People hold onto handrails as the glass and steel facade tilts forward 30 degrees. (Photo by Ashlee Rezin/AP Photo/Sun-Times Media)

Two stags fight in a wildlife park in Aurach near Kitzbuehel, in the Austrian province of Tyrol. (Photo by Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press)

A man looks at a mural painted on the walls of houses in Zaraeeb, created by French-Tunisian artist El Seed, in the shanty area known also as Zabaleen or “Garbage City” on the Mokattam Hills in eastern Cairo, Egypt, April 4, 2016. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Alfred Yetta (L) and Kay Manning pose for a photo in front of a cardboard cut-out of Pope Francis, during an event organised by Christa Scalies, the co-creator of the Pop-Up Pope, in Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 16, 2015. (Photo by Mark Makela/Reuters)

Snow blows off the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before being inaugurated at sunrise, Tuesday, February 26, 2008. (Photo by John McConnico/AP Photo)

A salsa dancer performs in the “Salsodromo” parade, which marks the start of the Fair of Cali, Colombia, December 25, 2015. Picture taken December 25, 2015. (Photo by Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters)