My name is Jessie, and I'm a college student in Savannah, Georgia. After watching a National Geographic special with my younger sister, I became aware of how badly vultures are suffering right now. Vultures may just seem like giant, ugly birds, but they're incredibly important to the delicate ecosystems in areas like Kenya and India. They help dispose of almost 70% of decaying carcasses. Without them, the bodies of wildebeest, cows,zebras, stray animals, and large animals like elephants sit to rot in the sun and fester. This leads to a dramatic spike in the population of scavenging mammals like jackals and hyenas. These animals are highly agressive and attack humans and livestock, often transmitting rabies. Decomposing bodies also attract flies and Mosquitos which carry malaria, yellow fever, and other blood diseases that can be fatal. Vultures keep scavenger populations in check by lowering their food supply. And their stomach acid is so strong that it can dissolve metal, meaning it destroys many viruses and bacteria, even anthrax! During mass migrations, such as those of the zebra through the Mara River, the remains of animals who drown, are trampled, or the leftovers of crocodiles and hippos float downstream and decompose in the main source of water for the region, allowing disease and putrid meat to mix in with the drinking water of animals and humans alike. Vultures live all over the world, but in countries like Kenya and India, their populations are dwindling as a result of deliberate poisoning of carcasses to kill the vultures who feed on them, normally with high doses of pesticides. This is a call to action for the governments of countries with high vulture populations to prosecute those who harm these birds, and ban the use of the chemicals that kill them. The vultures need us just as much as we need them.