Escaped vulture Scotland

~T~ · #1 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 10:42 AM

A mate of a mates vulture flew off from their falconry centre in Cumbernauld so if anyone spots it please call 01236 722999

Thanks

~T~ · #2 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 12:10 PM

BBC News - Missing vulture could pose threat in Scottish skies

jeremiah · #3 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 04:15 PM

BBC website says "a bird of prey, which can soar at up to 37,000 feet" ...

Surely some exaggeration there?

markp · #4 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 07:37 PM

"A Ruppell’s Griffon collided on 29 November 1973 with a commercial aircraft
at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,280 m)"

http://www.int-birdstrike.org/Amster...25%20WPSA3.pdf

Doggle Avaddit · #5 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 07:58 PM

So why is such a dangerous bird kept and allowed to fly free in the UK where it definately does not belong?

If I let my pet lion off the leash for a run in Hyde Park, I'm sure there'd be hell to pay.

Hengushrh · #6 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 08:28 PM

it's no more dangerous than the small yappy type dog being led down your street by an angry old lady who's just had her winter heating allowance scrapped combo... and it'll fly before you get within 100m of it!

I'm driving up that way tomorrow, great excuse to take the scope as well as the binoculars :0)

Hengushrh · #7 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doggle Avaddit

So why is such a dangerous bird kept and allowed to fly free in the UK where it definately does not belong?

If I let my pet lion off the leash for a run in Hyde Park, I'm sure there'd be hell to pay.

Re: your pet lion... if you do want to take it for a walk in a congested city setting, might I suggest One Canada Square, London E whatever it is, at about 12.30pm..?

Doggle Avaddit · #8 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hengushrh

it's no more dangerous than the small yappy type dog ... )

Er, no. The vulture could bring down a passenger jet.

The lion could kill perhaps a couple of people before it wasn't hungry any more.

Picidae · #9 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doggle Avaddit

So why is such a dangerous bird kept and allowed to fly free in the UK where it definately does not belong?

The only 'threat' a Vulture has is to dead animals. No need to 'demonise' a particular species - flocks of geese and soaring raptors etc are always potential risks. One more BoP in the sky isn't going to make a lot of difference tbh. With migrating Osprey, WTE and Golden Eagles in Scotland plus thousands of migratory geese combined with low level military sorties over the Highlands it's a daily risk anyway as is the risk to passenger aircraft.

(You could argue that it is the aircraft that 'don't belong' in the sky but birds do!

)

Hengushrh · #10 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doggle Avaddit

Er, no. The vulture could bring down a passenger jet.

The lion could kill perhaps a couple of people before it wasn't hungry any more.

Alright, no more dangerous than the wrong bloke with prostate cancer then... but still, how much airspace is there as opposed to the amount of plane and vulture, trying to occupy the same space, at a given moment in time..???

And I was hoping the lion might be thinking more about play than death... If it went near the escalators during rush hour AM the casualty toll would be horrific. Here's hoping...