“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)

Amal Clooney attends the “Money Monster” premiere during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on May 12, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Yippie leader Jerry Rubin, barred on December 4, from House Un-American Activities subcommittee hearing, aims a toy gun in “self defense” outside the Washington hearing room on December 5, 1969. Rubin showed up in his Santa Clause suit because he believed it was typical of the committee which, he said, “is a total circus”. (Photo by Bob Daugherty/AP Photo)

Joseph Fons holding a Pride Flag, runs in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building after the court ruled that a federal law banning workplace discrimination also covers sexual orientation, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 15, 2020. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Reuters)

A three minute time exposure shows the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch Complex 40, Thursday, January 7, 2021 in Port Canaveral, Fla. The rocket is carrying the Turksat 5A satellite for Turkey. (Photo by Malcolm Denenark/Florida Today via AP Photo)

Surfers and others spend a day at Rockaway Beach as impact from Hurricane Lee delvers large surf and rip tides to much of the Northeast on September 14, 2023 in New York City. Hurricane Lee is predicted to make landfall from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and also parts Maine this weekend. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Women take part in a rally called “March of Whores” to protest against discrimination and violence against women on International Women's Day in Bogota, Colombia, March 8, 2016. (Photo by John Vizcaino/Reuters)

Pablo Picasso, famed 66-year-old Spanish artist who has lived most of his life in France, suns himself on a boat on the beach at Golfe Juan in Vallauris on the French Riviera on March 10, 1948. Entering a new period in his varied artistic career, Picasso has turned to painting pottery at the nearby town of Vallauris. (Photo by AP Photo)