“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)

An Indian street vendor selling bananas naps on his fruit cart at the roadside in New Delhi on June 3, 2015. (Photo by Money Sharma/AFP Photo)

A cosplayer poses for photographs at the 2015 Comic Fiesta event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 31, 2015. (Photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters)

An elderly woman plays an accordion in Moscow, Russia on October 3, 2017. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

General Maurice Gamelin, General Officer commanding the French Armies, is on a four day visit to England. He went to the staff college at Minley and is seen inspecting an anti-tank gun at Aldershot, on June 7, 1939. (Photo by AP Photo)

Filipino children frolic next to ships taking shelter inside a seaport in Navotas city, north of Manila, Philippines, 27 August 2019. According to the latest advisory from Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Tropical Storm Podul intensified from a tropical depression into a tropical storm on August 27, while moving toward Central Luzon with a maximum winds of 65 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 80 km/h. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)

Visitors take photos of the fluorescent sea in the waters of Paishi Village, Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China, May 24, 2020, from the night of May 24 to the early morning of May 25, 2020. The fluorescent sea in dalian is caused by noctilucent algae in the sea water. (Photo by Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

A woman pushes a cart during a protest against racial inequality and call for defunding of Seattle police, in Seattle downtown, Washington, U.S. June 14, 2020. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)