A Sri Lankan child uses an inflatable tube to wade through floodwaters after heavy rains in Biyagama suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 06 June 2021. Many parts of the island have been inundated due to heavy monsoon rains. According to the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Center, at least 14 people have been killed so far and more than 245,212 people affected across the country. (Photo by Chamila Karunarathne/EPA/EFE)

For her book “Perfect Imperfection”, the Australian pet photographer Alex Cearns set out to capture the personalities of animals who adapt to their damaged or different bodies without complaint. Part of the proceeds from sales of Perfect Imperfection go to the Australian Animal Cancer Foundation. Here: “Bali Pip”. Bali street dog. Had the skin condition mange. (Photo by Alex Cearns/The Guardian)

Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian documentary photographer living in Paris. He has produced several books, and his work has been exhibited extensively around the world. His latest work, «Genesis», premieres at The Natural History Museum in London on April 11, on view through September 8, 2013. Photo: On South Georgia, a barren island in the far South Atlantic, a pair of southern elephant seal calves beckon before a colony of king penguins. “The male seals can grow to almost five tons,” says Salgado, “but these are just babies. This one looked at me with beautiful eyes”. (Photo by Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas/Contact Press Images)

A looter smiles as she runs away from a member of the South African Police Services (SAPS) inside the Lotsoho Mall in Katlehong township, East of Johannesburg, on July 12, 2021. Several shops are damaged and cars burnt in Johannesburg, following a night of violence. Police are on the scene trying to control further protests. It is unclear if this is linked to sporadic protests following the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma. (Photo by Phill Magakoe/AFP Photo)

A sifaka lemur eats leaves at the Berenty Reserve in Toliara province, Madagascar, February 15, 2022. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

“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 spot-billed pelican sits on a street light in Colombo on March 16, 2021. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)