The Vulture and the Chief's Ram

A Chaga chief (Mangi) owned a magnificent, fat Ram that was the pride of the village. One day, the Ram disappeared. The chief sent his warriors to find it, but they could not. He consulted a diviner, who told him to look to the sky. The chief saw a Vulture circling high above a deep, hidden ravine. The chief and his men went to the ravine and found the Ram at the bottom, where it had fallen and died. The chief was grateful to the Vulture for showing him the way. He declared, "The Vulture is a friend to the Chaga. Though it eats what is dead, it reveals what is lost." In honour of the Vulture, the chief ordered that a portion of any animal sacrificed for a community feast must be left on a high rock as an offering for the vultures. This custom solidified the Vulture's role not as a creature of death, but as a wise and necessary part of the mountain's ecosystem, a scout who helped the people by revealing secrets from above.