“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)

After 12 years photographing models, musicians, and celebrities, Brad Wilson decided that he wanted to photograph something a little more unpredictable: wild animals. Photo: Serval. (Photo by Brad Wilson)

Raining on their New Year's Eve parade. Revellers in Leeds, United Kingdom get ready ready for the new year on December 31, 2022. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

World Champion Matthias Dolderer of Germany flies over the Horseshoe Bend near Lake Powell in Page, United States during the transfer flight from Indianapolis to Las Vegas to prior the final stage of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship on October 12, 2016. (Photo by Predrag Vuckovic/AFP Photo)

In this Friday, March 28, 2014 photo, singers of the Moranbong Band, Jong Su Hyang, foreground, and Pak Mi Kyong, left perform on their stage in Pyongyang, North Korea. Step aside, Sea of Blood Opera. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's favorite guitar-slinging, miniskirt-sporting girl group, the Moranbong Band, is back. And these ladies know how to shimmy. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)

In 2012 in Kiev will pass European Football Championship. The history of Kiev, the largest city and the capital of Ukraine, is documented as going back at least 1400 years...

Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the biggest production the Australian Ballet has ever undertaken and it’s also one of the most spectacular. Created for the Royal Ballet and designed by Bob Crowley, it involves puppetry, optical illusions, major setpieces and immersive projections, as well as costumes that some dancers have to actually climb into. Here: Ako Kondo as Alice, on stage September 11, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Busby/The Guardian)