“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)

In this Thursday, May 8, 2014 photo, guests look down from the Tilt!, a new tourist attraction that provides guests a unique view of the downtown area from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building, after it was unveiled in Chicago. People hold onto handrails as the glass and steel facade tilts forward 30 degrees. (Photo by Ashlee Rezin/AP Photo/Sun-Times Media)

A member of the Eton public school O.T.C. (Officers Training Corps) practising shouting out orders during a training session, 20th January 1940. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Police officers stand near a fishing boat, the Carolina Queen III, as it rests in shallow water just off Rockaway Beach, Thursday, February 25, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York. Authorities say a Coast Guard vessel overturned while assisting the fishing boat that ran aground in an inlet off New York City. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

An Indian sadhu (Hindu holy man) sits on the banks of Sangam – the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers – on the auspicious bathing day of 'Maghi Purnima' during the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad on February 19, 2019. Millions of Hindu pilgrims took the plunge in holy rivers on the most auspicious bathing days of the Kumbh Mela festival, led by naked, ash-smeared holy men and accompanied by chants from Hindu holy texts. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

Anti-frost candles burn in apricot plantations to protect flowering buds and blossoms from frost in the midst of the Swiss Alps, in Saxon, Canton of Valais, Switzerland, 05 April 2019. With an unusually low temperature forecast for the season, fruit growers try to protect their buds from frost damage with two different means, icy water or large candles. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE)

This photo shows sunset in Eagle, Colo., Sunday, November 3, 2019. Daylight saving time ended, making sunset around 5 p.m. this time of year in Colorado. (Photo by Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily via AP Photo)

An artwork called “McJesus”, which was sculpted by Finnish artist Jani Leinonen and depicts a crucified Ronald McDonald, is seen on display as part of the Haifa museum's “Sacred Goods” exhibit, in Haifa, Israel, Monday, January 14, 2019. Hundreds of Christians calling for the sculpture's removal protested at the museum last week. (Photo by Oded Balilty/AP Photo)