Italian police officers carry away a FEMEN activist during a protest in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, November 14, 2014. Members of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen staged a protest against the upcoming visit of Pope Francis at the European Parliament and Council. (Photo by AP Photo)

“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)

Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

Carlos Cure holds packets of corn flour made in Colombia as he poses for a picture at a stall that sells food and staple items at a market in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

People cool off in a fountain outside the Southbank Centre on June 30, 2015 in London, England. The UK is currently experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures of 35 degree celsius forecast tomorrow in some parts of the country. The extreme heat has already seen train cancellations and a health warning has been issued. (Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

Members of the Gafatar sect walk in the rain as they evacuate their compound, which was later burned down by local villagers, in Antibar village, Mempawah Regency, Indonesia West Kalimantan Province, January 19, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Local authorities and police moved the sect members to an army barracks located some 70 km (43 miles) away from Antibar for their safety following recent disputes between the sect and the villagers, Antara said on Tuesday. (Photo by Jessica Helena Wuysang/Reuters/Antara Foto)

Emilia Pechinkova, a 24-years-old Bulgarian Pomak (Bulgarian speaking Muslims) bride poses for a photograph following the “gelina” or face painting ceremony carried out by female guests and relatives in preparation for her three-day wedding ceremony in the village of Draginovo, 100 kms southeast of Sofia on April 22, 2016. Bulgaria's Muslim population is one of the highest in the European Union. During the Communist regime religious rituals were not tolerated, and Muslims were forced to abandon wearing their traditional wedding outfits. Recently, more young Pomak women want to include traditional wedding customs that were forbidden during the regime, regardless of their secular lifestyles and the high cost of such a wedding. (Photo by Nikolay Doychinov/AFP Photo)