Humans, Nature and Birds
From Room 1:  From Public to Virtual Venues




 



the vulture populations, some of which were plummeting by half yearly. The effects of diclofenac were later reported in Pakistan as well.[77]

Years ago Kenneth Brower warned, “When the vultures watching your civilization begin dropping dead . . . it is time to pause and wonder.” The pause-and-wonder phase may have lasted too long in the case of these birds, for the repercussions are widespread and troubling For two millennia the Parsi have laid out their dead at the top of Towers of Silence to be quickly eaten by vultures, but few vultures show up now. Elsewhere, especially at dumps, rat and feral dog populations climbed sharply in the absence of vultures. These second-rate scavengers are less efficient, and they harbor rabies and other diseases. Even the deaths of sacred cows now pose problems that, in some places, have elevated into health hazards.[78]

Viewing the Science
Art is not yet commonly exhibited. But it could be, and images like this need not be exhibited in a biology library to gain attention. Teaching is often compartmentalized; learning is not. Formal education has provided conditions favoring the development of discipline-specific departments and the evolution of

page3-->

Plate 64 Vultures and Crystals Oriental White-backed Vultures (Gyps bengalensis), © 2004/2007 Darryl Wheye.Science Art--Birds

© 2008 Darryl Wheye and Donald Kennedy