Often ridiculed for their absence of supermodel good looks, vultures have for eons received an undeserved bad rap. Vultures provide one of the most important yet under-appreciated ecosystem services of any avian group. As a ‘keystone’ scavengers species, vultures ensure the mess gets cleaned up by disposing of animal carcasses. Put another way, we would be lost without garbage disposal men in society and it is much the same with vultures in nature and human societies.
Reports of vulture declines have been numerous over the past decade and here in Namibia the landscape is no different. Countries such as India have seen a rapid decline in the numbers of vultures and have also seen the direct effect this has had on the rise of diseases that would be quelled by vultures. In fact, it is reported that today India has the highest rate of rabies in the world, with billions of dollars incurred in health and clean-up costs.
To understand the crisis situation around vultures in Namibia, Maria Diekmann of the Rare and Endangered Species Trust joined us in the MYD Earth studio to share with us about the plight of vultures in Namibia and why this affects us all. Maria joined us to share on the importance of vultures in an ecosystem and why we need to protect this species for the survival of the human race.
In 99FM’s MYD Earth show, we spoke to Maria Diekmann, the founder and director of the Rare and Endangered Species Trust. Here are some of the areas covered in this episode of MYD Earth :
- Why vultures are the ultimate cleaning machines and a species that are critical to the ecosystem
- Why these species are fast being wiped out
- How the vulture crisis could be more critical than the global honey bee crisis and what could happen to the human race if vultures become extinct
- What is endearing about vultures
Take a listen to the MYD Earth show with Maria Diekmann of REST, here :
https://soundcloud.com/99fm/myd-earth-vultures