Source: Reuters

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL267599.htm

On August 26, 2005 Reuters reported, "Hundreds of vultures once circled above a sacred area in one of India's poshest suburbs, waiting to feed on the remains of followers of an ancient religion that does not allow its dead to be buried or burned. Older members of the small-but-prominent Zoroastrian Parsi community of Mumbai say it usually took only half an hour for the vultures to finish their part of the ritual, cleaning a dead body of flesh deemed to be spiritually contaminated. But the birds have almost been wiped out by urban development and accidental poisoning, leaving Parsis divided on how best to treat the dead and stay true to the faith. The Parsis, long known for their philanthropy, are caught in a tug-of-war between pragmatism and tradition that goes beyond funerals to questions about conversion and racial purity. 'Our last act of charity was with the vulture,' said Khojeste Mistree, a Parsi scholar. 'That's the tradition that we have grown up to follow, and that tradition has come under threat.'"