In the natural environment, the death of any animal means a new beginning. Dead bodies can support many animals, and the bodies will be decomposed by various scavengers, such as birds, insects, mammals, etc. They are all nature's "cleaners" and they have made a lot of contributions to the earth. Today we are going to talk about birds that specialize in eating carrion: " vultures ". Ask everyone a question worth pondering; can you accept your body being decomposed by various animals? Or was it cremated with a fire?
The King of Carrion
People seem to be very disgusted with scavengers, thinking that they are dirty and may carry a large number of germs. But really without them, the environment would be dirtier. Vulture : It is a special kind of bird. They are different from other birds. They mainly feed on carrion and are regarded as an unlucky bird by people. Vultures like to eat carrion and have a steel-like stomach. The stomach acid in their stomachs can even corrode metal.
Vultures mainly live in places with warmer climates. In the ocean there are ocean cleaners " king beetles ", and on land there are vultures. Vultures are also the only birds that are exclusively scavengers. Why is it said to be the only one? Although there are sideburns , crows and other animals that eat carrion in nature. They only eat carrion when there is not enough food. Vultures spend their entire lives eating carrion. For scavengers, eating carrion is also very difficult. If you are not careful, you will be "eating". First of all, scavengers must have an indestructible stomach to prevent virus infection.
In nature, it is difficult to encounter a corpse that has just died. Vultures patrol in the air and can quickly find corpses in a wide range. Vultures: "Go farther and farther on the road of eating carrion." They have become " scavengers " in the sky. They have pointed beaks and bald heads.
There are actually two types of vultures in the world: one is the Old World vulture, which lives in Europe, Africa and other places. The old vulture only uses vision to find dead prey. Another type is the New World vulture, which lives in South America and relies on its more sensitive sense of smell to find carcasses. No matter what kind of vulture they are, they can avoid spreading diseases and keep the grassland clean.
Birds of prey Vultures
Vultures are a type of raptor. They have very large wings. Although their wings are very large, they cannot fly using their wings, making it very difficult to take off. Like other flightless birds, they rely on gliding to fly. Their wings can reach 3 meters in length. As long as they are in the air, they keep gliding like paragliders . They are called raptors but they never eat live prey, only rotting meat.
Vultures hover in the sky, and when they find a target, they will rush down to get food. The division of labor among vultures is also quite clear. The red-headed American vulture has a keen sense of smell and can always be the first to find prey. Then other vultures will follow it and land next to the carcass. If there are other scavengers next to the carcass, the vultures will wait in line. When they finish eating, the vultures will swarm them.
Vultures will never eat live animals
I once saw a little lamb entangled in a barbed wire fence in Tibet. The vultures waited for the lamb to die and would not take the initiative to hunt the lamb.
Moreover, vultures eat very fast and can swallow 1 kilogram of carrion in one minute. Among the vultures, there is even a vulture that specializes in eating bones, so wherever the vulture goes, not even bones and dregs are left.
Why do vultures eat carrion but are fine?
The dead bodies of animals contain a large number of bacteria after decay. These bacteria can cause the animals to become sick, and in severe cases can even cause death. However, the vultures continued to eat. They relied on strong stomach acid to digest bacteria and viruses . Apart from the bald head, there were no other problems.
Moreover, the vulture's immunity to is also very strong. After generations of evolution, the body has been able to coexist with microorganisms . Even if they encounter some indigestible bacteria, vultures can protect themselves from harm.So vultures are naturally not afraid of eating carrion.
"Special Funeral"
There is a common custom in Tibet. "Sky Burial" Vultures are sacred birds in their beliefs. After their death, they dedicate their last light and heat to nature. It is also the last good deed in life.
In the traditional belief in South Africa, there is a very cruel practice. Drying the brains of vultures and rolling them into cigarettes can bring good luck and even predict the future?
In areas such as northern Myanmar, people regard them as "unlucky objects" and will hunt them when they see them, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of vultures. People hunt vultures in large numbers because of superstition. In order to deal with grassland pests, people use pesticides in large quantities. The pests poisoned by pesticides are eaten by vultures, and the vultures are also indirectly poisoned to death. Not afraid of viruses, but died of poison in the end. How sad!
Due to human hunting and indirect poisoning, the number of vultures has decreased sharply. It has been reduced by 95% and is even on the verge of extinction. As the guardian angels of the grassland, they prevent corpses from spreading everywhere in the grassland and are not infected by viruses. But because of people's greed, the environment continues to deteriorate, and they are about to become extinct under human persecution. It's really time for us to wake up. It is urgent to be kind to nature and protect endangered animals.
