“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)

“Honorable Mention”. An Indian rhinoceros, far from home and stuck inside with late-winter blues at the Toronto zoo. Photo location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo and caption by Stephen De Lisle/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Spain fans react during the penalty shootout during 2022 FIFA World Cup football match between Morocco v Spain in Qatar as they watch the match on a big screen in Barcelona, December 6, 2022. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Desiree Urban is painted at Columbus Circle as body-painting artists gathered to decorate nude models as part of an event featuring artist Andy Golub, Saturday, July 26, 2014, in New York. Golub says New York was the only city in the country that would allow his inaugural Bodypainting Day. (Photo by John Minchillo/AP Photo)

Martin Herrera, 58, who has had a love for roosters since his childhood, and has spent the last 20 years domesticating and training them, walks with his favorite rooster “Paquito” in San Jose, Costa Rica April 27, 2017. (Photo by Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

When Colin Garratt went to photograph the traditional sentinels of the British countryside, he found they ranged from the dapper to the downright sinister. “They are not from the anaesthetised world of the craft fair”, says Colin Garratt, “but are the direct descendants of the ancient spectres which have haunted the landscape for centuries”. The Scarecrow Exhibition is at Geddes Gallery, London, from 25 to 30 March. (Photo by Colin Garratt)

An Indian Runner duck searches for food on a snow-covered meadow in Aitrang, southern Germany, Wednesday. April 19, 2017. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/DPA via AP Photo)