“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)

Buyan, a male Siberian brown bear, is given a shower by a zoo employee in his enclosure at the Royev Ruchey zoo in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk June 24, 2014. The Siberian city has been experiencing temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius over the last week. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A Sumatran Tiger tears apart a wrapped Christmas present at Taronga Zoo on December 21, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. Animals received Christmas themed enrichment foods as part of the Zoo's regular program to encourage the animals to forage for food and help improve hunting abilities. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Meet the real beach babes: the herd of pigs that live a life of luxury paddling in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, on August 28, 2013. (Photo by Caters News)

NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Wednesday morning, November 16, 2022, as seen from Harbor town Marina on Merritt Island, Fla. The moon is visible in the sky. (Photo by Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP Photo)

People watch waves crash over the sea wall in Revere, Massachusetts on January 13, 2024. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is reminding residents of the possibility of flooding in low-lying areas and streets as a third storm in a week batters the state. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP Photo)

“I think as mothers we are all just trying our best”. – Gisele Bundchen. (Photo by Mads Nissen/AFP Photo)

In this image provided by the Pairi Daiza park, giant panda Hao Hao holds her newborn baby in her mouth at the park in Brugelette, Belgium, on Thursday, June 2, 2016. With the help of the Chinese government Hao Hao and her mate Xing Hui arrived in Belgium two years ago and Pairi Daiza adapted its park to build a bamboo forest for them. (Photo by Benoit Bouchez/Pairi Daiza via AP Photo)