Witty Scribble

Before the later part of the decade of 1990s, it was a common sight of a ‘wake’ of vultures feasting on the carcasses of dead animal(s). Vultures, Indian vultures in particular, are one of the nature's best scavengers. Often quoted in ancient literature for their farsightedness (remember Jatayu and Sampati from Ramayana?), Giddh Drishti, they soar high in the sky looking in the vicinity of human population to find their food. Vultures are naturally gifted with a digestive system capable of breaking down their food, which is hazardous otherwise, thus making them a major contributor in the animal disposal system. It takes a few minutes for a ‘wake’ to completely clean off a full grown dead cattle. But where are they now? Animal dead bodies are still seen frequently, but the vultures are nowhere around. The population of vultures in India declined sharply (upto 99 percent decline as per some studies) between 1990 and 2007-08. The reason was uncertain, until befo