International Vulture Awareness Day

"The Vulture.  Of all the creatures in the jungle, he has it the easiest.  The hard work of others becomes his work; their failure to survive becomes his nourishment.  Keep an eye on the Vulture - while you are hard at work, he is circling above.  Do not fight him, join him."

- Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

These days, it seems like almost every single day is now some animal's special day.  There's Orangutan Day, Cassowary Day, Painted Dog Day... I think we're only a few weeks away from having Texas Blind Salamander Day.  Pretty soon, some of these critters are going to have to start sharing as the calendar fills up.

I don't normally focus on these days - there are just so many - but today is a special one.  This is International Vulture Awareness Day.  So... are you aware of vultures?

You should be.

Outside of Australia and the Oceanic Islands, virtually all of us live beneath the wings of at least one vulture species.  Whether its the ubiquitous turkey vultures and black vultures of North America, the imposing griffons of Europe, or the full cabal of species that soar over Africa, vultures are always with us.  Granted, their presence is not generally appreciated by many people.  They are viewed as dirty, disgusting, and greedy.  Their feeding habits nauseate many, as do their talents for cooling themselves (defecating on their legs) and protecting themselves (projectile vomit).

It's the sort of bird that was designed to appeal to ten-year old boys which, come to think of it, is about how old I was when I first fell in love with vultures.

As awesomely gross as vultures can be, we certainly need them.  They are some of the most efficient scavengers in nature.  Their clean-up services halt the spread of many disease, including anthrax and rabies.  In places where vultures have seen their numbers drop, we've seen major ecological and economical consequences.

In turn, vultures need us.  South Asia is only now starting to recover from a great vulture die-off.  Africa is in the midst of its own vulture crisis.  Some of it this tragic loss is accidental.  Some is deliberate.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recognized this when it made African vultures one of the campaigns of its new conservation effort, Saving Animals from Extinction.  Efforts have included producing a Maa language film on the need to save vultures, supporting rehab facilities in South Africa, and, of course, maintaining conservation breeding programs for several African vulture species.  There's plenty of precedent for success - one of AZA's first ever reintroduction success stories was for our own giant vulture, the California condor.

Almost every AZA zoo has vultures, whether in an aviary, on display in a mixed-species exhibit with hoofstock, or as an educational ambassador animal.  We should embrace the opportunity to share these wonderfully weird birds with the public.  We need to preserve vultures, if not just for their sake, than for ours as well.  After all, someone has to clean up our messes...