As a young boy I would watch many animated movies, and one of my favourite shows had animals as the characters. Foxes, bears, birds, all sorts of animals talking and singing and dancing. There were good guys and there were bad guys, and some of the bad guys were portrayed by vultures. Clumsy, incompetent and slow, they were quite charming though. However, vultures have always seemed to have a negative stigma surrounding them for some reason. Perhaps because they sit in the shadows, waiting for death? Perhaps because they only scavenge when other, more handsome animals have left a kill with full bellies? Who knows...but they seem to be typecast as a specific type of character.
But are they really the bad guys they're portrayed to be?
What is the role of the vulture anyway?
Vultures do not hunt live prey, but instead scavenge from carcasses, and as a result will clean up what would otherwise rot, spreading disease and death. A vultures digestive system is very strong. The acid in their stomachs is highly corrosive, facilitating the digestion of decomposing carcasses infected with diseases such as anthrax, cholera, botulinum toxin, and rabies that would be lethal to other scavengers. Unfortunately, it is not strong enough to withstand some of the poisons farmers put out to deal with other scavengers, and this has has a huge impact on the numbers of these birds over the past few years. Numbers of vultures are dwindling at an alarming rate, and every effort is needed to help preserve these helpful and majestic birds from becoming carcasses themselves!
Both Old World and New World vultures need protection, and we are the only species on the planet that can offer it. Let's not remove the 'villain' from this story. It may have a more negative effect than we would like!