Nepal's 'restaurant' for vultures

[XemaSab]

As the early morning mist lifts on the farmlands at the edge of the jungle, Yam Bahadur Nepali embarks on a job which many would find difficult but which, for him, is a regular chore.

He wheels his tricycle cart to collect the carcass of an old and sick cow which died during the night. It is to be fed to the vultures, under a unique initiative to conserve the scavenging birds. It is called the "vulture restaurant".

With some difficulty Yam Bahadur and his wife wheel the heavy beast past houses and down across wet paddy fields to the vulture feeding area.

The "restaurant" is a big grassy area surrounded by tall, fragrant sal trees. The peaceful scene is broken only by the cattle skeletons scattered around - and the vultures nestled above.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7470792.stm

[silverweb]

1. Very interesting.

And a very positive program. :thumbsup:

[Speck Tater]

2. In Tibet they had a custom called "Sky Burial"

where after a person died, their corpses were chopped up and left on the mountain top for the vultures.