“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)

American film star Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson or Norma Jean Baker). (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images). 1952

Winner, photojournalism. Elephant in the room, by Adam Oswell, Australia Zoo. Visitors watch a young elephant performing underwater. Oswell was disturbed by this scene, and organisations concerned with the welfare of captive elephants say performances like this encourage unnatural behaviour. In Thailand, there are now more elephants in captivity than in the wild. With the Covid pandemic causing tourism to collapse, elephant sanctuaries are becoming overwhelmed with animals that can no longer be looked after by their owners. (Photo by Adam Oswell/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

Bystanders gives assistance after Les Republicains (LR) party candidate Nathalie Kosciusko- Morizet collapsed while campaigning in the 5th arrondissement in Paris on June 15, 2017, ahead of the second round of the French legislative election. (Photo by Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP Photo)

Festival goers having fun at the Balaton Sound music festival in Zamardi next to the Lake of Balaton, 110 km (68 miles) west of Budapest, July 6, 2017. (Photo by Zsolt Furesz)

Canada's Marissa Papaconstantinou makes her way to the finish line after falling in the Women's 200m T44 Final during day ten of the IPC World ParaAthletics Championships 2017 at London Stadium on July 23, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

Beryl Lipton, left, douses Matt Lee during the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square, Thursday, August 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS. The idea is: pay up for charity or get doused. The fund-raising phenomenon is catching on fast, propelled by popular videos of the dunkers and the dunked – including famous athletes and entertainers – posted on social media sites. And the challenges are raising tens of thousands of dollars and immeasurable awareness for causes from ALS to breast cancer to a camp for kids who've lost a father to war. (Photo by Elise Amendola/AP Photo)

A traffic police woman whistles at a pedestrian, Monday, July 27, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea where its citizens are having a one-day national holiday to celebrate the country's 62nd anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)