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Vulture shortage threatens Zoroastrian burial rites

Inadvertent poisoning of scavengers across Indian subcontinent is forcing some communities to give up ancient custom

Another Karachi Parsi, Shirin, said: “The vulture’s mystical eye is believed to aid the soul’s cosmic transition, and offering one’s deceased body to the birds is regarded as the devout Zoroastrian’s ultimate act of charity.” “The massive urbanisation and environmental changes in Karachi have led us to revisit our burial rites, as dakhmas were usually built on top of hills in locations distant from urban areas. Photograph: CPA Media Pte Ltd/AlamyThe Parsi community in India is exploring captive vulture breeding and the use of “solar concentrators" to expedite the decomposition of bodies.

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