Jackass Vulture ((free)) -

Currency is a last resort. Barter, trade, and favors rule.

Enter the Jackass Vulture. When it lands, the other birds scatter. It acts as the "can-opener." Using its colossal beak, it rips through the toughest hides and tendons that smaller birds cannot penetrate. In doing so, it provides access to the meat for the rest of the waiting crowd. While it is often bullies the smaller birds, snatching food right out of their mouths, it plays a vital role in kickstarting the feeding frenzy. jackass vulture

Their stomach acid is exceptionally corrosive, with a pH close to 0 or 1. This allows them to digest rotten meat and neutralize dangerous pathogens that would kill any other animal. Without the Jackass Vulture and its cousins, the African plains would be littered with rotting, disease-ridden carcasses, posing a massive threat to all other wildlife—and humans. Currency is a last resort

The bird gets its formal name, "Lappet-faced," from the loose, fleshy folds of skin (lappets) that hang from the sides of its head. Combined with a massive, hooked beak—widely considered the most powerful beak of any bird of prey—the Jackass Vulture looks like a prehistoric throwback. It looks angry, and for good reason: it has a job to do, and it doesn't like interruptions. When it lands, the other birds scatter

It is a strange, discordant sound to hear coming from a bird with a wingspan of nearly three meters (10 feet)—a guttural cackle that echoes across the plains, signaling dominance over a meal.