Laws put in place to tackle the spread of BSE have been relaxed in some areas of Europe, where vultures have proved to be the unexpected victims.
In the aftermath of the mad cow disease outbreak, EU regulations declared that all dead livestock must be cleared away. However this has left vultures – dubbed “nature’s cleaners” – without one of their major food sources.
Now MEPs have acted to allow farmers in affected countries such as Spain to leave dead cattle and sheep in their fields, providing they meet safety and hygiene conditions. Vultures can strip a carcass in just hours.
Environmentalists were concerned that the southern European populations of Griffon vultures, as well as threatened species such as the Spanish Imperial Eagle and Egyptian Vulture, could be losing numbers to starvation. Many birds have been spotted hundreds of miles from their natural habitats, travelling north and west in the search for food. There have been sightings in Germany and even Brussels.
It is now up to governments to implement the changes, which will also benefit carrion-eating mammals such as bears and wolves.
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