However, it’s a vulture’s role in controlling the spread of wildlife diseases that’s highly beneficial – and frequently under-appreciated. Generations of being an “obligate scavenger” – a term describing animals that feed almost exclusively on carrion – has developed a vulture digestive system that is highly acidic and is able to neutralize bacteria and other harmful disease-spreading organisms that are consumed with the decaying flesh.

If you don’t see much to love about a vulture picking at a decaying carcass, keep reading. There’s evidence that the value of these birds’ dead-animal diets is much greater than many people realize.

People can learn more about vultures Feb. 23 at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) “Vulture Venture” event at Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery near Branson. The event is from noon until 5 p.m.

The vulture most common here in the Ozarks is the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), although black vultures (Coragyps atratus) are also seen in this region. Though these birds’ appearances won’t win many beauty contests, it’s their diet that draws the most disgust from humans. That’s too bad because a vulture’s carrion consumption – one vulture consumes around 111 pounds of carrion each year – helps humans by ridding areas of carcasses that, otherwise, would provide foul odors and disgusting scenery for a much longer period.

However, it’s a vulture’s role in controlling the spread of wildlife diseases that’s highly beneficial – and frequently under-appreciated. Generations of being an “obligate scavenger” – a term describing animals that feed almost exclusively on carrion – has developed a vulture digestive system that is highly acidic and is able to neutralize bacteria and other harmful disease-spreading organisms that are consumed with the decaying flesh.

Contrast this to dogs, rats and a number of other animals that are “facultative scavengers” – animals that scavenge for only part of their diet. These animals have less-potent digestive systems and, as a result, often end up as carriers of bacteria they ingest instead of killers of it. These scavenging animals and their less-efficient clean-up methods of dead animals can end up spreading the same diseases that took down the source of their food.

A vulture’s disease-control benefits were quantified in some eyebrow-raising numbers in the book “What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? How Money Really Does Grow on Trees” by Tony Juniper. In this book, the author examined a massive vulture die-off that occurred in India in the 1990s and early 2000s. An anti-inflammatory drug used on cattle left residual chemicals in the meat that proved fatal to vultures feeding on the cattle after they died. The die-off linked to the consumption of this chemical was massive – approximately 97 percent of the region’s long-billed vulture population and more than 99 percent of the country’s oriental white-backed vultures died.

This decimation of vultures created greater opportunity for scavenging activities by rats and dogs. This has led to an increase in the prevalence of rabies which, in turn, has led to an increase in deaths from rabies and an increase in medical costs. These problems, researchers say, can be tied back to India’s vulture decline. It should be noted that, in relation to this research, there are some notable differences between that part of the world and ours (to name a couple – India has a much higher feral dog population than the U.S. and parts of the country don’t have access to the same medical services we do). Nevertheless, it makes a strong case for the role vultures play in controlling the spread of some wildlife-borne diseases.

Moving back to Missouri, the Feb. 23 Vulture Venture event at Shepherd of the Hills will consist of outdoor viewing opportunities of vultures in the wild (hundreds gather each winter along Lake Taneycomo) and indoor viewing of a captive vulture furnished by Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield. For more information, call the Hatchery’s Conservation Center, 417-334-4865, extension 0. MDC’s Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery is located at 483 Hatchery Road on the west end of Lake Taneycomo near Branson.

Information about vultures and other birds found in Missouri can also be found at mdc.mo.gov.

Francis Skalicky is the media specialist for the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Southwest Region. For more information about conservation issues, call 417-895-6880.