The vultures of India are dying,

March 25, 2002 12:55 PM

The vultures of India are dying, with a population decline of over 90% in just over the last decade, probably due to an unknown virus. The decline in vultures is a problem for the Parsis of Bombay in particular, who, as Zoroastrians, have come to depend on the vultures to dispose of their dead at the famous Towers of Silence.
posted by homunculus (7 comments total)

I am not sure how I feel about this. Because in the mid '80s the vultures population had grown so large that they started attacking children playing in the compounds of buildings nearby. A 90% decline is shocking, but a part of it has to be because a natural population control cycle.
posted by riffola at 1:14 PM on March 25, 2002

Augh I wish I knew how to proof read, and/or type properly :)

On a related note, the Towers of Silence scared me when I was younger. I would always watch out for the vultures when ever we went to the Hanging Gardens or anywhere near that area.
posted by riffola at 1:20 PM on March 25, 2002

It's probably the domestic cats.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:47 PM on March 25, 2002

the government put up nets in x-project 4232F, code name net

giant nets

which are awesome

and by awesome, I mean totally sweet
posted by Settle at 3:46 PM on March 25, 2002

Unfortunately the disease seems to be spreading to Pakistan and Nepal. This could become a huge ecological problem for central Asia.

We've got vultures here in North America, perhaps the Parsis should relocate en masse and build some Towers of Silence here, their own population decline permitting.

Personally I agree with Robinson Jeffers, being fed to vultures would be an excellent use for my flesh once I'm done with it.
posted by homunculus at 3:55 PM on March 25, 2002

riffola: Where are the Hanging Gardens? Are they connected somehow to the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon?
posted by bingo at 12:46 PM on March 26, 2002

Hanging Gardens are a manicured park in Bombay (Mumbai). A garden which, incidentally and incredibly, has trash cans painted to look like penguins.
posted by milkman at 2:50 PM on March 27, 2002