Can vultures help police find corpses? (Germany)

[Donna]

Vienna/Hanover - Police in Germany are planning to train vultures to find human remains and have obtained two young birds from an Austrian breeder, the police forensics chief of the German state of Lower Saxony said on Wednesday.

Turkey vultures can cover larger areas than corpse-sniffing dogs, but the birds have to be tested first to see whether they can actually be used in criminal investigations.

One of the brownish-black animals is already being trained at the Walsrode bird park near Bremen, forensic unit chief Rainer Hermann said he needed the two additional birds because turkey vultures seek carrion only in groups.

Hermann picked up the pair in the Austrian province of Carinthia on Wednesday.

Unlike other vultures, turkey vultures have an excellent sense of smell, in addition to sharp eyesight. They could reach remote areas and are more resilient than dogs, Hermann said.

"But they are clearly more stubborn than dogs," he added.

A friend of Hermann got the idea of training turkey vultures several years ago, after watching a television documentary about the birds. - Sapa-dpa