00:00Vultures have an image problem.
00:04Seen as ugly and associated with death,
00:08they are among the least loved animals in the world.
00:12But conservationists in Africa
00:16are trying to change that.
00:20They've launched an effort to save endangered vultures by trying
00:24to put a dollar figure on their incredible value.
00:28From a medical, from a veterinary and from a financial point of view
00:32they are extremely important in the environment. If one had
00:36to just consider if the vultures died out
00:40and we got increases in foot and mouth for example,
00:44the red line district would have to be increased, exports of meat
00:48out of South Africa would be curtailed, the whole
00:52coal chain process would lose money, the farmers would, as well as
00:56South Africa losing forex. So they're extremely, extremely important.
01:00A recent report
01:02by the BirdLife International Conservation Organization estimated
01:06that vultures are worth over
01:081.8 billion dollars a year
01:10to certain ecosystems in Southern Africa.
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