“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 undated photo made available by journal Nature on January 15, 2014, a northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) flies in Tuscany, Italy. A new study released Wednesday, January 15, 2014 says the birds choreograph the flapping of their wings, getting a boost from an updraft of air in the wake of the flapping wings by flying behind the first bird and off to the side. When a flock of birds take advantage of these aerodynamics, they form a V. (Photo by Markus Unsöld/AP Photo)

Zhao Qiang walks across a street in Shenyang, Liaoning province, April 14, 2014. Zhao, a community officer of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, was diagnosed with multiple when he was two, with the resulting tumour affecting the growth of his left leg, his grandmother told local media, citing a doctor's diagnosis. His uncle modified his shoes, fitting them with stools, to allow Zhao to stand and walk. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Xie Guobiao (C), 11, tied to a pillar with a rope, cries as his grandmother (L) and younger sister look on at his home in Daohui village of Lishui, Zhejiang province May 7, 2014. Xie was diagnosed as mentally handicapped when he was young, but the family was not able to provide him with sufficient medical treatment because of poverty. At the age of six, Xie started to sneak out of his home when others were not looking, climbing on top of houses and smashing windows. Xie's family had to pay over 10,000 yuan ($1,606) in compensation to others for the damage he caused. Since then, the family has had to tie Xie up with a rope both at home and in public, they said. (Photo by William Hong/Reuters)

Layers of breathtaking colour streak the rolling hills of this vast desert, making the landscape appear as though it has been tie-dyed. The natural phenomenon, nicknamed the “Painted Desert”, was formed when the area was once a river floodplain. Each colour corresponds to a different underground geological feature – rocks which have seemingly dyed the layers of earth above. Formed from volcanic activity, the hills at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in East Central Oregon, USA, are almost bursting with colour. Pictured: The colourful hills at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in East Central Oregon, USA. (Photo by Mark Brodkin/Solent News/SIPA Press)

“Lobsang and 66 fellow monks were imprisoned in 1959. When released 21 years later, he was one of only three survivors. While in prison his best friend, a rinpoche, died in his arms. Tensin was later discovered to be the reincarnation of that friend. Lobsang said there are so many characteristics of his old friend in the young boy”. (Photo and caption by Phil Borges)

People sit on the top of a truck heavily piled with corn-stalks plies as they head for Mogadishu from Afgooye on October 19, 2016. At least four police officers were killed on October 18 when a suicide bomb attacker rammed an explosives-packed car into a police station before fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group subsequently stormed the area killing at least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians. (Photo by Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP Photo)

Celebrity Hair Stylist, Chris Appleton was walking along Sunset blvd on their way to film Selling Sunset with Chrishell Stause when Chris wasn't paying attention to the Frappacino's that he was carrying and dropped them in the middle of Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, CA. on December 11, 2024. The looks on their faces was prices. The drinks can be seen in mid air before both hitting the ground and exploding. Clearly embarrassed, all they could do was laugh. (Photo by TheRealSPW/Backgrid USA)