Tsukimi Ayano steps out of her house in the village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan February 24, 2015. Tsukimi Ayano made her first scarecrow 13 years ago to frighten off birds pecking at seeds in her garden. The life-sized straw doll resembled her father, so she made more. Today, the tiny village of Nagoro in southern Japan is teeming with Ayano's hand-sewn creations, frozen in time for a tableau that captures the motions of everyday life. (Photo by Thomas Peter/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)

“Francois' langur is one of several species of leaf monkeys. Over 50% of its diet is made up of young leaves. It will also consume fruits (17.2%), seeds, flowers, stems, roots, bark and occasionally minerals and insects off of rock surfaces and cliffs. This langur consumes its favorite food, young leaves, at the highest rate during the dry season, April through September, also known as the young leaf-lean period”. – Wikipedia

Photo: An endangered baby Francois' Langur monkey called Laa Laa settles in following her July 6 birth at London Zoo, Regent's Park on August 5, 2004 in London. The bright ginger youngster was born to glossy black parents Max and Shaneka and has the typical orange baby coat which is in stark contrast against the black of her parent's and older brother Grub's fur. (Photo by Steve Finn/Getty Images)

Photographer Gregg Segal travelled the world to document children and the food they eat in a week. Partly inspired by the increasing problems of childhood obesity, he tracked traditional regional diets as yet unaffected by globalisation, and ironically, found that the healthiest diets were often eaten by the least well off. (Photo by Gregg Segal/The Guardian)

Royal sacred white oxen are offered food to consult the oracles during the Royal Ploughing Ceremony at the Royal Ground, Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, 09 May 2016. The ancient Brahmin rite is of great importance to the country's farmers. Thousands of farmers converge in Bangkok for the annual event, which is believed to assure a successful planting season and an abundance of crops. This year the sacred oxen ate paddy, sesame seeds, water and liquor which according to traditional soothsayers predicts that the country will have abundant food, sufficient water for agriculture as well as communication and foreign trade will improve leading to the prosperous economy. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

A health worker administers a dose of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to a worker in a local entertainment venue area where a new cluster of COVID-19 infections were found in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Officials in Thailand’s capital have ordered a two-week closure of all entertainment venues in three districts to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus from nightspots there. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

The Chilean ship “Skorpios II” is seen after it ran aground in “Maillen” island, near Puerto Montt, south of Santiago, in this handout picture from the Chilean Navy, February 5, 2015. According to the Chilean Navy, the ship's 89 passengers and 31 crew members were all evacuated and no oil spills or casualties were reported. (Photo by Reuters/Chilean Navy)

15-year old American girl Donica Streling meets with members of SHINee (샤이니) at SM Entertainment head office on June 20, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. Donica, diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, visited Seoul, South Korea to meet her favorite K-pop groups SHINee and Super Junior after finding hope in listening to Korean pop. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun)