“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)

Filipinos cross a swelling river in Las Pinas city, south of Manila, Philippines, 09 July 2015. According to the Philippines State weather forecast, heavy rainfall is expected in Metro Manila and nearby provinces due to an enhanced Southwest Monsoon and Tropical Storm Linfa, Typhoon Chan-hom and Typhoon Nangka which are lining up across the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)

Indian girls in traditional attire pose for photographs as they practice the Garba, the traditional dance of Gujarat state, ahead of Navratri festival in Ahmadabad, India, Saturday, October 3, 2015. Navratri or nine night festival will begin on October 13. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo)

In this Sunday, April 27, 2014 handout photo provided by Busch Gardens Tampa, mother armadillo Zowie, left, welcomes her newborn Southern three-banded armadillo baby at the Animal Ambassador Team, in Tampa, Fla. The baby was able to walk and roll into a ball within moments of its birth. Southern three-banded armadillos are the only species of armadillo that can fully roll up into a ball. (Photo by AP Photo/Busch Gardens Tampa)

A woman whose livelihood depends on selling recyclable wastes collects trash from a dumping site while surrounded by Marabou storks on the outskirts of Uganda's capital Kampala March 31, 2015. (Photo by James Akena/Reuters)

Vehicles move past a man resting on a taxi, as he waits for passengers, along a road in Karachi, Pakistan, May 5, 2015. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

Police in riot gear hold back demonstrators against U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump outside the Hyatt hotel where Trump is set to speak at the California GOP convention in Burlingame, California, U.S., April 29, 2016. (Photo by Noah Berger/Reuters)

MAFS star Hannah Norburn in the last decade of November 2024. The Cheshire business owner shared a slew of glam bedroom snaps. (Photo by Instagram)