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German Police Train Vultures To Find Bodies

Posted by samzenpus on from the go-find-him-boy dept.

abhatt writes "German authorities have found vultures as very valuable creatures and as such have trained some of them to be detectives. The work of the vultures is well defined — as you might have guessed they are being used to find hidden bodies. From the article: 'A police officer in Hannover, Rainer Herrmann, told reporters that, "The vultures may work much more effectively than sniffer dogs... There's a lot of interest in this. We've had inquiries from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.'"

38 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Trained vultures to find bodies? by maliqua · · Score: 1

    Vultures already knew how to find bodies!

    1. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by somersault · · Score: 1

      Pfft. Next you'll be trying to tell me I didn't need to catch and eat all those mice, and shit in kitty litter for a week when training our cat.

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      which is totally what she said
    2. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by rbarreira · · Score: 1

      They're training a specific kind of vulture which doesn't like rotting meat.

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      The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
    3. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by godel_56 · · Score: 1

      Vultures already knew how to find bodies!

      Yes, but they need to be trained to share.

    4. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by lbft · · Score: 2

      Much like the hawks at Wimbledon that chase away the pigeons, the hard part is overriding the instinct to eat it once they've found it.

    5. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by sigxcpu · · Score: 1

      It's Germany, everything has a training program and everything has a manual.
      I bet the police even train in drinking beer.

      --
      As of Postgres v6.2, time travel is no longer supported.
    6. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by thej1nx · · Score: 1

      Officer : We found the body of that missing person. Eyeballs? what eyeballs? Are you sure, he had those before?

    7. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by Meski · · Score: 1

      That's probably not a problem, but making them want to chase pigeons after they've eaten one would be. (go way! wanna sleep!)

    8. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by mwanaheri · · Score: 1

      See, that's the problem with the 'koma-drinking' teenagers. They drink before they have benn trained to drink! no drining-licence.

      --
      Idha khatabahum lijahiluna qalu salaman
    9. Re:Trained vultures to find bodies? by CraftyJack · · Score: 1

      Next you'll be trying to tell me I didn't need to catch and eat all those mice, and shit in kitty litter for a week when training our cat.

      Or lick your own...nevermind.

  2. Ingenious! by Cruciform · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now they just need to train priests to find missing children!

    1. Re:Ingenious! by rolfwind · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, that covers boys, but what about girls?

    2. Re:Ingenious! by PPH · · Score: 1

      Members of the US Legislature?

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      Have gnu, will travel.
    3. Re:Ingenious! by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      Might be difficult. I don't think dogs get excited when you put a leash and collar on them.

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      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
    4. Re:Ingenious! by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      No problem, as long as they have a Twitter account...

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    5. Re:Ingenious! by chocapix · · Score: 1

      Use French politicians.

    6. Re:Ingenious! by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      They can use those to find hidden money

    7. Re:Ingenious! by wintercolby · · Score: 1

      Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi should be able to help on with that.

      --
      Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. --Aldous Huxley
  3. In a related story... by errxn · · Score: 2

    German police train flies to find shit. Film at 11.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
    1. Re:In a related story... by mlush · · Score: 1

      I saw something about training bees to detect explosives (and other chemicals). Apparently you puff the vapour at the bee and give it a hit of sugar and for the next few hours it gets excited when it detects the same smell. Very sensitive but you have to retrain the insect every time you use it.

  4. Vultures... trained to find bodies? by Urkki · · Score: 2

    As absurd as the idea of needing to train vultures sounds at first, I'd guess the training has more to do with finding human bodies instead of every road kill in 10 km radius, and vulture coming back instead of heading south after having a quick snack from the body found, and other little practicalities like that.

    1. Re:Vultures... trained to find bodies? by virginiajim · · Score: 1

      Vultures detect carrion using smell, so you need knowledge of wind patterns where they are circling to determine carrion location. This has been suggested for use in the US when searching for a missing person, who might still be alive. While it sounds feasible, there is an associated cost in resources, which are usually limited, unless ornithologists and meteorologists are readily available and have access to local data about wind conditions. Wind conditions close to the ground, say up to 1000 feet can be variable: you can't just look at which direction the clouds are moving. Then you need to triangulate vulture locations, probably by ground observers at two or three locations trained to use compasses and maps. (The fire observers in fire watch towers do this type of location work for fires, or used to, for the US Forest Service.)

  5. And the project ended by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 1

    ...when the vultures kept eating the bodies they were trained to find. I think families would be a little disturbed if they found out their dearest departed were also 'vulture chow', courtesy of the local constabulary.

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    -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
    1. Re:And the project ended by HungryHobo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      better than the body simply being missing with no clues.
      Bodies would be damaged by scavengers anyway.

    2. Re:And the project ended by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      better than the body simply being missing with no clues. Bodies would be damaged by scavengers anyway.

      Let's just say the irony of your comment combined with your handle was not missed by this observer.

    3. Re:And the project ended by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 1

      And that reminds me of the grossest cartoon in a magazine that I've ever seen. It was in Hustler about 25 years ago. I'll let you imagine it yourself.

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      -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
  6. I love it by eyenot · · Score: 1

    From what I hear, through people some may consider eccentric (undue criticism), vultures show amazing prescience and aptitude. But they've been under prejudice (perhaps well earned) for so long that they are one of those animals that haven't been as thoroughly studied as something cuter or more docile (and not associated with being the last thing you see before you die).

    I wonder what the third vulture is thinking. Is there some vulture rule of thumb that only two need to be in the air to find a body, and the third is just doviding tasks by staying on tthe ground (since he noticed that that's what his caretakers are doing)? Or, if theybwere in the wild, perhaps hunting parties include ground members that use tracking skills and other faculties that can't be applied in the air? Or maybe he's just another lazy pig?

    Science!

    --
    "Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
  7. Corrected Summary: by nuckfuts · · Score: 1

    Vultures Show German Police How to Find Bodies

  8. Train Vultures? by LanceUppercut · · Score: 1

    They have train vultures now? Ugh... Next time I'm in Germany I'll better take a car or a bus.

  9. Good Job by Obble · · Score: 1

    I can just imagine how this will work,

    I am truly sorry for your loss Miss Gottschalk, but your husband body was found by our flying vulture team. He was floating in the river and his left eye was eaten by one of our teammates.

     

  10. slight distraction by Walt+Dismal · · Score: 1

    German police declined to comment on why vultures trained to find dead bodies were found flying in frantic circles over local McDonald's restaurants.

  11. What? by lennier1 · · Score: 1

    Didn't they already use lawyers before?

    1. Re:What? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Didn't they already use lawyers before?

      Yes, but they had to update the vulture training program when it was discovered that even vultures won't eat a dead lawyer.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:What? by lennier1 · · Score: 1

      Use vultures to find other vultures?

  12. I doubt there was an inquiry from Austria by kubitus · · Score: 1

    as the vultures come from a Zoo/breeder in Austria ;-)

    1. Re:I doubt there was an inquiry from Austria by Pf0tzenpfritz · · Score: 1

      So the Austrians are breeding trained vultures? That would fit, as they are also said to produce jam by squeezing Krapfen (kind of jam-filled, Bavarian donut)

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      Oh, the beautiful gloss of greality!
    2. Re:I doubt there was an inquiry from Austria by kubitus · · Score: 1
      No the vultures are their heraldic animals.

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      BTW The Krapfen are Berliners, not Bavarian Donuts.

      So beware of saying: Ich bin ein Berliner *g*

  13. Re:Those krafty krauts!!! by Kilrah_il · · Score: 1

    I think Stalin beat him, but point well made.

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