Vulture

In the ancient times, many Zoroastrians left the dead bodies of their friends and family on the mountains for vultures to eat. That's why  vulture is the most sacred bird in the Avesta. Vultures are nature’s garbage collector. They eat the dead animals before they decay. This way they prevent disease and clean up the environment. Vultures are the biggest meat eater in nature. Did you know vultures in Africa eat more than 27,500 tons of meat each year?

There are two kinds of vultures: New World vulture, which lives in America and the Old World vulture (on the left), which lives in Africa and Asia. The Old World vultures are related to eagles, but New World vultures are related to storks.

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