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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Vulture Detective Training Hits Headwinds

As if unemployment wasn’t already high enough, in Germany they are trying out vultures as detectives.  It’s not working too well, though:




Police in the German state of Lower Saxony had ambitious plans to search
for corpses with vultures, a tactic that could have been revolutionary
in locating missing persons. The idea sparked widespread interest among
law enforcement officials. Unfortunately the raptors themselves have
little interest in the job.



http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,770994,00.html#ref=nlint


Despite years of training, Sherlock's success has been limited. While he can locate a stinking burial shroud which the police gave the bird park to use for training purposes and which is clearly marked with a yellow plastic cup, Sherlock doesn't approach the shroud by air. He prefers to travel by foot.



"He hops around a 20-square-meter (215-square-feet) grassy area until he finds the cloth," bird park spokesman Stefan Freundlieb told SPIEGEL.

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