7/25/2019 Vultures Are Revolting

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 Vultures Are Revolting. Here’s Why We Need to Save Them.

AT SUNSET THE WILDEBEEST SEEMS

DOOMED:Sick or injured, it’s andering miles

!rom its herd on the Serengeti "lain o! Tan#ania. $y

sunrise the loner is dead, dra%ed in a roiling scrum

o! vultures, &' or so (irds searching !or a ay to

invade its earthly remains. Some o! the scavengers

 ait %atiently, ith a Ni)onian hunch, eyes on their

%ri#e. $ut most are engaged in gladiatorial (attle.

Talons straining, they rear and rake, joust and !eint.

*ne %ounces ato% another, then (ronco rides its

 (ucking and rearing victim. The crod %arts and

surges in a (lack+and+(ron ave o! undulating

necks, sta((ing (eaks, and thrashing ings. rom

overhead, a constant stream o! ne diners soo%s in, heads lo, (ouncing and tum(ling in their haste to

 join the mo(.

 Why the !uss over a carcass so large- Why the unseemly greed- $ecause the ilde(eest is tough+skinned

and asn’t killed (y carnivores, it lacks an o%ening ide enough !or general admission. And so the

 (oldest (irds com%ete !uriously !or access. As the crod cackles and cas, a hite+(acked vulture snakes

its head dee% into the ilde(eest’s eye socket and hurriedly slur%s, ith grooved tongue, hatever it can

 (e!ore (eing ri%%ed !rom its %lace at the ta(le. Another hite+(acked tunnels into a nostril hile a

R%%ell’s vulture starts at the other end/ it’s eight inches into the ilde(eest’s anus (e!ore another (ird

 renches it aay, then slithers its on head, like an arm into an evening glove, u% the intestinal tract. And so it goes0&' des%erate (irds at !ive gol!+(all+si#e holes.

THE VULTURE MAY (e the most maligned (ird on

the %lanet, a living meta%hor !or greed and

ra%aciousness. 1eviticus and 2euteronomy

classi!y vultures as unclean, creatures to (e held

in a(omination (y the children o! 3srael. 3n his

diary during the voyage o! H.4.S. Beagle in 5678,

9harles 2arin called the (irds :disgusting,;

 ith (ald heads :!ormed to allo in %utridity.;

 Among their many ada%tations to their !eculent

niche< the a(ility to vomit their entire stomach

contents hen threatened, the (etter to take =uick !light.

7/25/2019 Vultures Are Revolting

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Revolting- "erha%s. $ut vultures are hardly ithout redeeming values. They don’t >o!ten? kill other

animals, they %ro(a(ly !orm monogamous %airs, and e kno they share %arental care o! chicks, and loa! 

and (athe in large, congenial grou%s. 4ost im%ortant, they %er!orm a crucial (ut massively underrated

ecosystem service< the ra%id cleanu%, and recycling, o! dead animals. $y one estimate, vultures either

residing in or commuting into the Serengeti ecosystem during the annual migration0hen 5.7 million

 hite+(earded ilde(eests shu!!le (eteen @enya and Tan#ania0historically consumed more meat than

all mammalian carnivores in the Serengeti com(ined. And they do it !ast. A vulture can ol! more than

to %ounds o! meat in a minute/ a si#a(le crod can stri% a #e(ra0nose to tail0in 7' minutes. Without

 vultures, reeking carcasses ould likely linger longer, insect %o%ulations ould (oom, and diseases ould

s%read0to %eo%le, livestock, and other ild animals.

$ut this co%acetic arrangement, sha%ed (y theages, is not immuta(le. 3n !act, in some key

regions it’s in danger o! colla%se. A!rica had

already lost one o! its eleven vulture s%ecies0the

cinereous vulture0and no  seven others are

listed as either critically endangered or

endangered. Some, like the la%%et, are !ound

%redominantly in %rotected areas >hich are

themselves threatened?, and other regional

%o%ulations o! the gy%tian and (earded vulture

are nearly e)tinct. Vultures and other

scavenging (irds, says 2arcy *gada, assistant

director o! A!rica %rograms at the "eregrine

und, :are the most threatened avian !unctional

grou% in the orld.;

*n a sunny 4arch day *gada is traveling ith her colleague 4unir Virani in the 4asai 4ara region o!

@enya. Virani is here not to study his (eloved (irds (ut to s%eak ith herdsmen a(out their cos.

1ivestock hus(andry, it turns out, is essential to vulture el!are. As our truck eaves through !locks o!

shee% and goats, Virani e)%lains ho the 4aasai have in recent years leased their land, hich rings the

northern section o! the 4asai 4ara National Reserve, to conservancies esta(lished to %rotect ildli!e (y

e)cluding %astoralists and their livestock. Some 4aasai claim the conservancies have lured more lions

and other carnivores to the area. >The conservancies are contiguous and un!enced.? 4eanhile

%o%ulations o! ilde(eests and other resident ungulates in the 4ara ecosystem are !acing threats !rom

%oaching, %rolonged drought, and conversion o! savanna to cro%land and real estate. This in itsel! ould

 (e (ad nes !or vultures, (ut there’s orse.