What struck my fancy

By TonyLuxton

Ruppell's Griffon Vulture

Likes carcasses, the bigger the better. It's a native of central Africa but this one is at a zoo some 50 miles from where I live and grandson fancied a visit to the place so I took him.

This vulture has the interesting distinction of being able to fly high - at 36,000 feet which is the usual cruising height of a jet airliner, how it spots a carcass  from up there is anyone's guess. How does it maintain oxygenation - by a special form of haemoglobin I read. How does it maintain its body temperature - I don't know. All quite remarkable.

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