“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 visitor holds an Israeli-made rifle during the 8th International Land and Naval Defense system exhibition, in New Delhi, India, on February 6, 2014. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)

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

Jean-Pierre Giagnoli walks through a crowded area of vendors hawking cat related goods at CatCon LA in Los Angeles, on Sunday, June 26, 2016. (Photo by Richard Vogel/AP Photo)

Bella Hadid smiles as she picks up a camera battery which a photographer dropped on the red carpet, before giving it back as she attends the “Ismael's Ghosts (Les Fantomes d'Ismael)” screening and Opening Gala during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Roger Moore fights with Richard Kiel, as Jaws, who bites through a board in a scene from the film “The Spy Who Loved Me”, 1977. (Photo by United Artist/Getty Images)

A street artist dances tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, January 20, 2015. Tango is a partner dance that originated in the 1890's along the Rio de la Plata, the border between Uruguay and Argentina. UNESCO approved in 2009, a joint proposal by the two nations to include the dance in its Intangible Cultural Heritage List. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

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)