Yoruba Philosophy: Igún (Vulture) the Sacred Bird

Some animals within the Yoruba traditional corpus
are revered as sacred figures of religious worship.
Some of these animals include the yellow palm bird (popularly called
eye oga), vulture (igun) and royal python. Any attempt to fell a tree where the decorous bird (eye ọ̀gà) lays its eggs is to visit doom upon the society.

The vulture in Yoruba land is a sacred bird and should not be used
as a burnt offering, game or food. The Yoruba saying confirms this:
a kìí pa igún, a kì je
igún, a
kìí fi igún bọrí
(Adewoye, 2007, p. 54)
–
“We do not kill the vulture, we
do not eat the vulture,
we do not use the vulture as sacrifice to the gods to remedy human destiny.” This saying warns
against any attempt to kill the vulture for food, or use it as sacrifice to the gods. The Yoruba tradition further encourages the preservation of animals through certain rituals, customs or taboo

Adébóyè Adégbénró