Huge flocks of starving vultures have started attacking live animals in the city of Burgos, in Northern Spain. One farmer said a flock of around 100 vultures attacked and killed one of his cows and her calf.
The attacks have been taking place for some months after a feeding station in a neighbouring province was closed down. Vultures prefer to feed on the carcasses of dead animals, but since there is no more carrion available in other parts of the Spain, the vultures have started attacking livestock.
The authorities are in a dilemma on whether to protect the livestock or the vultures. The vultures too need protection as many varieties of the bird are already in the list of endangered species.
The best solution would be to somehow ‘air lift’ the hungry vultures and get them to India and Pakistan!
For vultures here have become extremely scarce, as the population of the Asian Vulture has declined by an alarming 95% over the last 12 years. A recent study has finally found out that the remnants of a particular painkiller found in the bodies of dead cattle were proving to be fatal for the carrion-eating birds.
In contrast to many other birds of prey, vultures are generally considered repulsive due to their association with rotting flesh and death. Also the word ‘vulture’ has come to denote certain uncomplimentary traits in people! To ‘wait like a vulture’ means hanging around for the victims to get weak before picking their remains. Journalists looking for news about bloody crimes and gossip are sometimes called ‘vultures’. Lawyers who profit off death such as inheritance, life insurance etc are also be called vultures!
But now, with vultures becoming scarce, people realise what an important role these birds play in the ecosystem. The decline in vultures has led to hygiene problems in India as carcasses of dead animals are no longer tidied up by them. Dead animals either rot, or are eaten by rats and wild dogs. It has been found that because of this, rabies among these rats and dogs has increased, which is now a major health threat with India having the world’s highest rate of rabies.
