“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)

Dilwyn Green, from North Wales, holds his 7 month old Gold Silkie Bantam which won a 1st prize in its breed at the Poultry Club's 2011 National Show on November 19, 2011 in Stoneleigh, England. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Cloud inversion taken at Sunrise in Mam Tor, Derbyshire, UK on August 30, 2016. (Photo by David Zdanowicz/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A sеx worker participates in a march to raise public awareness on human rights issues in their profession on International Day to End Violence Against Sеx Workers in Skopje, Macedonia December 17, 2016. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)

A man is arrested by Police during clashes in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 25 January 2021. Police's mobile unit is present and has carried out charges to clear the street. Some arrests have also been made and a water cannon has been used. Nationwide protest against coronavirus restrictions and curfew imposed by Dutch government broke out during the weekend in many Dutch cities, leading to some violent riots and clashes with Police. (Photo by Marco de Swart/EPA/EFE)

Transgender woman Angeles Rojas enters a room at Banco Nación where she works in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, November 5, 2020. Rojas, 23, joined the most important public bank in Argentina this year as part of the trans labor quota that is part of the public policies in favor of the LGBT community that the South American country has implemented in the last decade. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

People celebrate outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center after Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become 46th president of the United States, Saturday, November 7, 2020, in Philadelphia. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

Revellers enjoy a night out in central Liverpool, northwest England, on December 30, 2020 before hightened Tier 3 restrictions closing hospitality venues, and bars indoor and outdoor socialising between households are imposed in the city amid surging cases of the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP Photo)