PIERA BERETTA

WILDLIFE BLOG

Wild Lockdown: Disease Control

27 April 2020

Disease control is vital. The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) plays an important role in containing the spread of various diseases. Like other vultures, they do not actively hunt animals, but live off carrion. However, rather than eating the mea of deceased animals, they specialise on eating the bones.This is why, unlike other vultures who have to stick their heads into carcasses, the heads of bearded vultures are covered in feathers.

Bearded vultures are the largest birds in Switzerland. Their wing span is just under 3m. There are only 220 bearded vultures living in the Alps. We were very fortunate to see this magnificent bird while hiking in the Swiss Alps a few years ago.

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