Undertakers of the Sky | National Geographic

high above the Andes Mountains soaring
scavengers keep a watchful eye on the
ground andean condors with their 10-foot
wingspan can effortlessly cover hundreds
of miles in a day but when a meal is
spotted they descend in droves the
carcass of a guanaco a wild relative of
the llama flies exposed to the elements
a grey fox gets to the carcass first but
not soon enough
dwarf by the condors bulk the little
gray fox will have to wait it’s turn but
there will be little left when the
condors are finished adult males weigh
in at 25 pounds and will quickly reduce
the carcass to a skeleton
the Condors are attracted not only to
life Zen but also its beginning
stillborn calves or after births a
welcomed source of food temperatures in
the Andes can be extreme a baby guanaco
born late in the day dies from the cold
there is nothing that distress mother
can do
[Music]
the Condors will hang on the wind until
the baby is still but its mother is
hesitant about defending it perhaps
she’s intimidated by the condors
impressive bulk
before the birds can get their fill the
mother chases the mirror feathers
unruffled they take to the skies as The
Undertaker’s of the air another meal
always awaits them