“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)

The new Amazon tablet called the Kindle Fire is displayed on September 28, 2011 in New York City. The Fire, which will be priced at $199, is an expanded version of the company's Kindle e-reader that has 8GB of storage and WiFi. The Fire gives users access to streaming video, as well as e-books, apps and music, and has a Web browser. In addition to the Fire, Bezos introduced four new Kindles including a Kindle touch model. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A girl of the Amazonian Tatuyo tribe poses while waiting to sell crafts to tourists in her village in the Rio Negro (Black River) near Manaus city, a World Cup host city, June 23, 2014. Because of their proximity to host city Manaus and their warm welcome, the Tatuyo have enjoyed three weeks of brisk business thanks to the World Cup. Usually, they host between 10 and 30 tourists a day. During the World Cup, this number has rocketed to 250 a day, They have become richer and other communities now come to them to sell them juices and fishes. (Photo by Andres Stapff/Reuters)

Francisco da Silva Vale, 61, cools off fish with ice produced on solar-powered ice machines at Vila Nova do Amana community in the Sustainable Development Reserve, in Amazonas state, Brazil, September 23, 2015. Three solar-powered machines, are producing about ninety kilos of ice per day, in a region with poor access to electric energy, which used to be produced only with diesel oil, in the Amazon rain forest. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

Models pose backstage ahead of the Review of Australian Fashion Week show as part of Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Sydney 2011 at Sydney Town Hall on August 24, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Villagers from the Medio Jurua nature reserve of Brazil's Amazon rainforest arrive with their catch of pirarucus, the largest freshwater fish in South America, after a night of fishing in Manaria Lake, Carauari municipality, September 3, 2012. Catching the pirarucu, a fish that is sought after for its meat and is considered by biologists to be a living fossil, is only allowed once a year by Brazil's environmental protection agency. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

Bella Hadid and Gigi Hadid prepares backstage for Savage X Fenty Show Presented By Amazon Prime Video – Backstage at Barclays Center on September 10, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

Vanessa Hudgens attends Savage X Fenty Show Presented By Amazon Prime Video – Arrivals at Barclays Center on September 10, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Presented by Amazon Prime Video)