They hover for hours above the gorges, allowing to be admired. They build nests in the crevices of the rocks and tenderly nurse their only chick. They save the island from epidemics, cleaning it of dead animals, they are vultures (Gyps fulvus) – the orderlies of the Greek island of Crete.
Despite their not very attractive appearance, Cretans appreciate their “work” and help them in difficult situations. Last summer, due to the heat, these exhausted birds literally fell from the sky – onto roads and beaches. They were picked up, fed and even sent to Athens for treatment. Recently, a unique clinic for vultures was opened in Crete. In the mountain village of Gergeri in the municipality of Rouvas (on the slope of the island’s highest mountain Psiloritis): a large aviary was built for birds in trouble. Perhaps it will come in handy during winter snowfalls. In addition, carcasses of animals are left for the birds in certain places to feed them.
A flock of vultures can eat a sheep carcass in 5-10 minutes and a cow one in 3-4 hours. Moreover, their digestive system dissolves all microbes and viruses contained in food. Small bones are also digested in the stomach, and the large ones are dropped from a height to break. By the way, there is a version that Aeschylus, the founder of Greek tragedy, was killed by a turtle dropped on his head not by an eagle but by a vulture.
In search of food, vultures can fly over vast territories (up to 30 km), detecting their prey thanks to keen eyesight; and they can go without food for about a week. In Crete they are called skars and canavous (σκάρες, καναβούς). Most of them – 85% of the entire vulture population of Greece – live here. The fact is that nomadic livestock farming has been preserved on the island, providing the birds with food, and relatively uninhibited mountainous areas with wild animals. The care of people for these orderlies of the island also plays a role. The population growth allows Cretans to export these birds to the mainland and neighboring islands.
Griffon vultures are often confused with bearded vultures. The former live mostly at higher altitudes and prefer to settle in pairs rather than colonies. Crete is the only place in Greece where this proud bird lives. But even here, there are few of them left, so they are treated with even more reverence.
According to ancient beliefs, it was the vulture, a divine servant that “carried human souls to the distant universe”; and it is easy to believe in the proximity of these proud birds to the “distant universe” when looking at their soaring in the sky…
About a football fan vulture: a beautiful big bird landed on a stand during a football match in the city of Ierapetra: