Increasingly today, East Africa is one of the few places one is likely to have the visceral experience of witnessing vultures crowded over newly found carrion, competing to quickly and efficiently render it to a few large bones and fur. Sadly it is precisely this astonishing ability to fly with ease across seasons and countries, and to respond quickly in great numbers to carcasses large and small, that has put vultures in the center of a growing tragedy.

That tragedy is the misuse of readily available poisons to kill wildlife under diverse circumstances. The vulture's unique capacity to identify recent deaths across vast distances has made it particularly vulnerable. Sadly, the collapse of vulture species and populations serves as a grim indicator of a much wider death toll across Africa.

Read the full article on the Huffington Post >>