“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 saltwater crocodile with a tyre around its neck is seen in Palu river in Palu on January 16, 2018. Indonesian conservation officials are racing against time to locate and rescue a saltwater crocodile that has had a tire wrapped around its for more than a year on the island of Sulawesi. (Photo by AFP Photo/ARFA)

A woman looks at head of bluefin tuna on display in front of a store at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Monday, February 19, 2018. The large bluefin are particularly valuable in Japan, where they are considered a premium sushi and sashimi fish. A single fish sold for more than $1.75 million at an auction in Japan in 2013. (Photo by Koji Sasahara/AP Photo)

An air tanker drops fire retardant on flames as firefighters continue to battle against the Detwiler fire in Mariposa, California on July 19, 2017. The Detwiler fire is currently at 7 percent containment and has burned more than 45,000 acres and destroyed eight structures. (Photo by Josh Edelson/AFP Photo)

A hand out picture released by Queensland police on November 7, 2016 shows a police officer taking care of a baby koala in Brisbane Australian police made one of their more unusual finds when they uncovered a baby koala hidden in the bag of a woman they stopped in the street. (Photo by AFP Photo/Queensland Police)

Participants of the Sarenza High Heel Race 2015 warm up prior to the race during a party of the online shoe store, in Paris, Thursday, October 15, 2015. Competitors in teams of three girls race wearing shoes with more than 8 cm-high heels. (Photo by Francois Mori/AP Photo)

A woman holds a rooster burned during a fire on a hill, where more than 100 homes were burned due to a forest fire but there have been no reports of death, local authorities said in Valparaiso, Chile January 2, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)

Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan at Buenos Aires' zoo, on May 20, 2015. Sandra got cleared to leave a Buenos Aires zoo that was her home for 20 years, after a court ruled she was entitled to more desirable living conditions. (Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP Photo)