Abstract
''For some five minutes we
watched the cheetah enjoying the
fresh, hot meat, before leaving the
kill. Ten minutes later it was back
with two other cheetahs. The three
of them had a hearty meal. By this
time, the vultures were circling the
scene, waiting their turn and we
left." (Custos, Nov. 1991; vol. 20, 8;
pg. 8)
Vultures ... YUK! This seems to be
the usual statement attached to these
ugly, feathered scavengers. People
continue on with their game viewing
when they see these raptors (birds of
prey) sit hunched in lifeless trees
with necks drooped between their
rounded "shoulders:' Against the silhouetted
sky, they seem to hover
over the African veld waiting for
death to occur. With keen eyesight,
they can find the best, or worst, of
dead carcasses. The carrion, which to
us might be the most sickening of
smells and most vulgar of sights, may
cause a vulture to drool and froth at
the beak. Yes, their job may be the
pits. They have the ghastly task of
cleaning up the South African veld.
But, as in the human world, the African
wildlife ecosystem also needs its
local garbage disposal, the vulture.
The rest of this natural phenomenon
is unraveled in the next scene of this
cycle ....