Skip to main content

Vultures

 


I LOVE this photo. The silhouette of vultures perched on a dead tree at sunset is eerie and dramatic. I like dramatic anything, so I find these creatures fascinating. 

 

I imagine these vultures waiting in the twilight for the wail of a captured impala as a pack of African wild dogs serves the antelope up for dinner. Or, perhaps they are listening to a trio of lionesses taking down a baby giraffe. The sound can never be unheard, but hearing the growls and pitiful cries is like a dinner bell for the birds. Why? Because raptors are scavengers that eat dead animals, whatever is left when the dogs or the lions are sated becomes a delicious and nutritious meal. Sounds disgusting, right?

 

But know, there is nothing gratuitous about the merciless events that take place in the animal world. It's survival.

 

Vultures are vital to the ecosystem. According to National Geographic, "They remove bacteria and other poisons in the environment quickly, consuming carcasses before they decay. Additionally, their stomachs contain a powerful acid that destroys many of the harmful substances found in dead animals."  

 

They are the clean-up team that's called in after a killing! Leave no trace! 

 

Sadly, vultures in Southern Africa are endangered. Circling high above a kill alerts the anti-poaching teams that something has died. Sometimes the killers are poachers. Not wanting to be caught, poachers poison the carcasses of dead animals so the vultures will eat the carrion and die. In one case, 500 vultures fed on one poisoned elephant carcass, all perished in agony. 

 

I've seen a couple of kills in the bush, and it's awful to witness. But the careless killing of species for their body parts or because they interfered with a crime is horrific. This senseless massacre scares me because ". . .without vultures, reeking carcasses would likely linger longer, insect populations would boom, and diseases would spread – to people, livestock, and other wild animals". 

 

Sounds apocalyptic!

 

Thanks again to National Geographic for helping me to better understand the bush!

 

#personalessays #poachersbegone #endangeredvultures #memoir #writing #womenwritersoverfifty #nationalgeographic #insectapocolypse #ilovethebush

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tragedy of Human Despair

  The Tragedy of Human Despair in South Africa I came across this scene while running errands. The person, a man, I think, sat on the dirty, tar road at a robot, straddling the center and right turn lanes on a busy street. The light had turned red, so I was forced to face the human tragedy of poverty, hunger, and hopelessness.  It’s not like I hadn’t seen people on the streets begging for food, clothes, jobs, or anything to sustain them for another day, but this was different.  He rested in a fetal position, head bowed and covered by a white t-shirt juxtaposed against black clothing. And what about the books? I couldn’t see their titles; maybe one was a bible.   He was as still as a statue and as quiet as the dark before the dawn. He did not flinch or moan, nor did he have pleading hands reaching out for a tidbit of salvation.  The human was simply there, a tableau worthy of a production by the Ontological-Hysterical theatre company in New York City’s lower...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Baboon Family

  A Baboon Family This baboon family makes me happy. The setting is peaceful, all four calmly sitting on a rock, at rest. Except for the baby looking directly at our game vehicle with curiosity, the other three's eyes gazing elsewhere.  Despite their sharp as daggers canine teeth, nut-crushing jaws, naughty opportunistic foraging of camper's food, and a hierarchy of dominating male bullies, baboons can be quiet and peaceful, going about their daily business in a well-defined social order.  These old-world monkeys thrive in friend and family units; females form strong bonds to raise and protect the kids, forage for food, and stay loyal to the troop for their entire lives. Like human families, they comfort each other, play, and squabble but ultimately come together for the good of the community and protection from predators - for the most part. Yes, there's a bit of infanticide by the males, beating females for the heck of it, violently tossing little ones to the side when ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Giraffes

  A couple of things are going on in this photo.  First, the ubiquitous bush butt shot. The rear-angle view of animals is so common that a friend of mine has a series of animal bottoms framed and hung on her bathroom wall.  I have about a million bottom shots languishing on a flash drive, I hate to get rid of them, but I’m not sure what I should do with the backside collection. Secondly, have a look at this trio of male giraffes. Elder, younger, and the one in the middle.  In this photo, the animals seem like pals. The three were playing rather than foraging on the treetops for food, so the sighting was special. Playing around to male giraffes looks like a neck-swinging dance and is weirdly elegant. The behavior is called “necking,” and it can cause damage if the play turns aggressive. It’s a dominance thing, a way to sort out who’s the boss of the females in the tower (or journey if they are moving).  As it turns out, male giraffes, like human males, have testo...
Post a Comment
Read more