Did You Know?
- The Rüppell's griffon vulture is believed to be the world's highest-flying bird, with confirmed sightings at more than 35,000 feet (10,668 meters).
- Turkey vultures have such a good sense of smell that they've helped natural gas companies detect gas leaks. The gas contains the same chemical found in a dead animal, which attracts the vultures to the leak.
Summary:
There are 23 different species of vultures. but unfortunately they are not that many left.Vultures live everywhere except for Australia and the Antarctica. There two groups of vultures , the New World vultures and Old World vultures.The World vultures are found in North America,South America and Central America. They have bald heads, they lack a voice box( they can only hiss and grunt). They lay their eggs in rocky surfaces or trees cavities. They have weak feet and they primarily locate by smell. The Old World vultures are very different to the New World vultures. The Old World vultures are located in Africa, Asia and Europe. They are not bald and they have a voice box. They build nest to lay their eggs unlike the New World vultures who put their eggs in rocky surfaces. They have strong feet with large talons that help grasp and they primarily find their food through sight.
Vultures are being killed through containment livestock. Livestock are given a inexpensive drug called Diclofenac when they are sick. When the livestock dies the vultures consumes the containment flesh.When the birds eat the carcasses of animals treated with the drug, they experience acute kidney failure and die within days. Without vultures diseases will spread quickly. |
My Reflection:
I chose this article because vultures are very interesting birds that get rid of carrion. Personally I think they are the most important birds in the world because they get rid of carrion that might carry diseases. This article made me realized that cheap medicine has really bad consequences.In this case the cheap drug is making the vulture population declining. This has a major impact in the spread of diseases without vultures to eat the carrion the public is more exposed to diseases. The birds are providing the most important environmental service. |