Vultures prevent deadly disease outbreaks by eating rotting carcasses.

Vultures are biological dead-ends for many of the world's most dangerous pathogens. Their gastric acid is exceptionally corrosive, with a pH level ranging between 1.0 and 2.0. This extreme acidity is strong enough to dissolve lead bullets and neutralize bacteria that would be fatal to most other scavengers.A landmark study published in the journal 'Nature Communications' in 2014 highlighted the unique microbiome of vultures. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark found that vultures have evolved a specialized digestive tract that filters out harmful microbes while harboring beneficial ones. This allows them to safely ingest meat contaminated with Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and Yersinia pestis (plague).The ecological importance of vultures was tragically demonstrated in India during the 1990s. The vulture population plummeted by over 95% due to accidental poisoning from diclofenac, a common veterinary drug. This decline led to a massive surge in the feral dog population, which grew by an estimated 7 million animals over a decade.The resulting increase in dog-human interactions led to approximately 38,500 additional rabies deaths between 1992 and 2006. Economists estimate that the loss of vulture services cost the Indian economy nearly $34 billion in healthcare and lost productivity. This case study remains the primary evidence for why vultures are essential for public health and environmental stability.