A man strikes a pose in front of a giant torta, or sandwich, during a press conference to promote the 13th annual Torta Festival, in Mexico City, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. The five day festival presents a variety of the Mexican street food made from the most exotic ingredients that include ostrich or stingray, to the classic ham, grilled steak or slow cooked pork. The festival's purpose is to maintain the tradition of eating tortas, and promote the vendors of the Mexican sandwich. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)

A five-week-old orphaned Southern Sea Otter pup rests on a rubber mat after arriving at the Shedd Aquarium's Abbott Oceanarium in Chicago, Illinois October 28, 2014 in this handout photo provided to Reuters on November 5, 2014. The stranded pup was found on September 30 on Coastways Beach in California and was rescued the next day to be brought back to health at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Southern sea otters were listed as “threatened” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1977. (Photo by Brenna Hernandez/Reuters/Shedd Aquarium)

“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)

People stand near beached sperm whales on January 13, 2016, after they became stranded on the Dutch island of Texel the day before. Five sperm whales which became stranded on Texel have died, officials said January 13. Experts said the beached whales had already been badly injured and their chances of survival were poor. Volunteers tried to save them but called off their efforts late in the night because of bad weather and darkness, ANP news agency said. (Photo by Remko de Waal/AFP Photo/ANP)

Five-month-old baby elephant Fah Jam swims during a hydrotherapy treatment as part of a lengthy rehabilitation process to heal her injured front left foot at a rehabilitation center in Pattaya, Thailand January 5, 2017. The baby elephant was injured at three months old when she got stuck in an animal snare put up by villagers to prevent elephant intrusions in Chanthaburi province. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

A runner takes part in the International World's coldest marathon at minus 53 degrees (–63.4 Fahrenheit) near Oymyakon, the republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia, Russian Far East, Saturday, January 22, 2022. Sixty five runners, including athletes from the United Arab Emirates, United States and Belarus, started the run at extremely low temperature in Oymyakon, Yakutia's Pole of Cold. The international team of men and women ran full distance and half-marathon. (Photo by Ivan Nikiforov/AP Photo)

People walk past a burnt bus near Sri Lanka's former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's official residence, a day after it was torched by protesters in Colombo on May 10, 2022. Five people were killed and more than 225 wounded in a wave of violence in Sri Lanka where the prime minister resigned after weeks of protests over the worsening economic crisis. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Chad Rowley and his wife Susan race during the 22nd North American Wife Carrying Championship at Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine, on October 9, 2021. Couples compete on a 278-yard (254-meter) obstacle course for a prize of wife's weight in beer and five times her weight in money. Winners are invited to the world championship in Finland where the sport originated. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP Photo)