Why are Vultures the ultimate scavenger?
In a vulture feeding frenzy, hundreds of birds can devour a whole cow carcass in only 40 minutes! But what makes vultures really special is that they leave nothing behind. Their stomachs can digest guts and bone, and even diseases like anthrax or rabies.
Vultures are carnivores, but unlike predatory birds they don't even need to kill their prey! These species are scavengers, meaning they feed on dead or discarded food which they can track down from above with their excellent eyesight and a strong sense of smell.
Why did Vultures nearly go extinct?
Since the early 1990ss, India has been overrun with plagues of flies, rabid dogs, and piles of rotting meat... all because they lost some birds! As many as 44 million vultures, 99% of the local species, had disappeared across India almost overnight. It was a complete mystery, and when nature's clean-up crew went missing, you can be sure things were about to get messy.
Scientists looked into the vulture's main food source, cow carcasses, and soon found a new dangerous ingredient that was making the vultures sick. It's called Diclofenac, and it was originally used as medicine for cows. Who could have known it was deadly to vultures! Today, Diclofenac is no longer used on cows in India, allowing the vultures to return to the feast!
What happened when the vultures left?
When the vultures moved out, rats and wild dogs moved in. There was plenty of food for these new scavengers to take advantage of, but they're not skilled at disposing of meat like the vultures were. Vultures can digest most of the diseases found in rotting meat, but rats and dogs can't! These new scavengers were carrying disease all around India's cities, causing a big increase in humans getting sick too. We needed the vultures to come back!
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In the absence of vultures, feral dogs moved in as the new scavengers in the carcass dumps in India.
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Cows aren't eaten by most of the people in India, so when they die the whole carcass remains for scavengers such as dogs.
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Once scientists realized the toxic drug Diclofenac was killing the vultures, it was banned for use in livestock.
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Today, we've seen vulture populations stabilize in India and across Asia. Soon they'll be back to cleaning up the country!
