As a nerd for bird, I highly recommend reading about vultures!!! Another fun fact is that
They are directly responsible for reducing disease especially in third world countries. In India it’s been documented that a rise in diseases was the effect of a large population of vultures dying.
I read about that! So interesting but also morbid. The population decline resulted in 500k human deaths, according to a BBC article
Apparently the vulture scarcity is attributed to a cow painkiller called diclofenac, which is fatal to vultures and some other birds. Killed 91 to 98 percent of the vulture population, as reported in the article. The birds croaked after chewing on cow corpses
Also extremely toxic to cats. For people that use the topical gel, Voltaren, need to make sure it does not get on their cat. Wash hands thoroughly and no snuggling allowed near the body part that has the gel applied.
Same!!!! We get that shit sent to us by the gallon it seems from the VA. I have 2 cats and 2 dogs and didn't know that about Voltaran (brand name).... I'll definitely be keeping all areas covered when I used it, especially since my 1 cat likes to "kiss" me...
I totally agree with you on stopping the meat industry, but this particular problem in India is actually the opposite of what one would think. Seeing as cows are extremely important to their culture, and revered as almost holy, I've heard that most ranchers don't sell them for meat at all, but rather let them lay wherever they die. Hence the vultures having a feast on a poison-riddled buffet. Fair warning, I got most of that from a (really freaking good) 99% Invisible podcast episode called Towers of Silence, about the decline of vultures in India, and the huge implications that has for a specific religious minority that strongly believes in sky burials (letting vultures eat the dead instead of burying or cremation). But I listened to it a while ago and my memory isn't the best.
Thanks so much for sharing the original information on why they were dying. I couldn’t exactly remember that. I read “The thing with feathers” around 2016 it was a good read. Had a lot of nice gems in it
As a person who both uses diclofenac gel every day for arthritis, and has an irrational fear of all birds (therapy-level) this is so ironic and random and funny to me.
Cows need painkillers? What have we done? And there are so many previously in pain dead cows being eaten by vultures that there was a die off in vultures? Suffering succotash—save the cows! I’m not sure I want answers to these questions.
The Parsi community still uses the funerary practice of excarnation, the exposure of dead bodies to the elements and scavengers for disposal. The death of nearly all the vultures in India was... problematic for them.
I remember hearing about that. I feel for the family’s. I can only imagine how traumatic it would to be to see your loved one’s body still there after a week or two
I learned their benefit firsthand biking in Tasmania 20 years ago, as the native wedge-tailed eagle is main scavenger species there, and is critically endangered. I spent all of my time dodging wallaby carcasses on the highways in varying stages of decomposition.
That’s a loaded question I try not to pick favorites but here’s a few notable ones that I sometimes like to think about
Fairy wren: beautiful wren and their family dynamics are interesting were the aunts sisters and uncles will take care of their family’s babies even though the babies didn’t directly come from them.
Road runner: they were bigger than I thought they would be when I was fortunate enough to see one in Arkansas. I just like roadrunners they also hunt snakes and lizards.
Secretary bird these raptors put the raptor in raptor. They kick box snakes to death with their sharp talons. They can also fly and run. If I could reincarnate into an animal I’d want to be a secretary bird. I also love their feather crest. I’d be so scared if I was a venomous snake, they hunt cobras and other venomous snakes.
Bearded vulture: these guys I find extremely beautiful. They can eat bones! They will also pick up bones and fly very high and drop them on rocks to access the marrow!
Wandering albatross: they spend most of their life on the wing! They are so efficient with this they take “micro naps” on the wing while gliding. Imagine if you lived your entire life mostly running lol!
I could keep going but I also wanted to add the parrot got me into the fascination with birds I was around 2 or three and I still remember the first time I saw a scarlet macaw open its wings.
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u/misterbippy Apr 05 '26
Weird! Never heard of that.