Part of VICE's Best of 2017. Check out Motherboard for more: vice.video/2CKPdl0 Vultures are nature’s garbage collectors. They play an important ecological role in preventing the spread of disease and infection amongst African mammals. A sharp decline in some species of African vultures has lead to a crisis that could threaten the entire ecosystem. One of the main reasons for the decline is the illegal trade of poached vultures. Often, those body parts end up in the hands of sangomas, South African traditional healers. Some sangomas use vultures in a variety of ceremonies, one of which includes smoking powdered brains to communicate with their ancestors. In this episode of Symbiotic, Motherboard visited a muthi market in Johannesburg to see this ceremony firsthand and to hear from both sangomas and conservationists. Click here to subscribe to VICE: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE Check out our full video catalog: bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: vice.com More videos from the VICE network: www.fb.com/vicevideo Like VICE on Facebook: fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: twitter.com/vice Read our Tumblr: vicemag.tumblr.com Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/vice Check out our Pinterest: pinterest.com/vicemag Download VICE on iOS: apple.co/28Vgmqz Download VICE on Android: bit.ly/28S8Et0

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