Vultures Only Eat Fresh Meat
A good way to know if you can eat something dead on the ground such as a dead ox / cow is that Vultures Only Eat Fresh Meat. If Vultures are feasting in it then it is likely fresh. If it smells or has maggots then you need to move on.
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Why vultures matter, and what we lose if they're gone
The primary threat to vultures is the presence of toxins in the carrion they consume. Losses of vultures can allow other scavengers to flourish, and proliferation of such scavengers could bring bacteria and viruses from carcasses into human cities, say investigators. Ref. Source 2x.