A 52-year-old woman was eaten by vultures after she fell from a cliff in France while hiking with her friends in the Pyrenees. She fell to her death, with the depth of the cliff measuring 1,000 feet from the hiking trail. Very aggressive and man-eating Griffon vultures consumed her entire body before rescue workers could reach her.

Rescue workers circled the area for around 45 minutes, trying to locate the hiker’s body but it was too late. As reported by MSN, vultures ate the woman before her body could be recovered. By the time they found her, they could only recover shoes, clothing and a few bones.

Major Didier Pericou said that the rescue workers noticed vultures circling the area, but they never thought they would find the woman before they did.

The aggressive vultures have become an alarming problem in France, in previous years and from history, they would feed on carcasses left by French farmers. The European safety and health regulations have changed through the years, which makes it illegal for animal carcasses to be left out on the land. Farmers are now forced to burn any animals that have died in their care, therefore, eliminating the food source of vultures.

Authorities investigating the case said that this could be the reason why the 52-year-old woman was eaten by vultures.

Now that the vultures’ primary food source has disappeared, they have been blamed for deadly attacks n livestock in France. More than 40 farmers have already filed claims for reimbursement for vultures’ eating their livestock.

Vultures are protected species, so it is a violation to kill the birds. Law that keeps them from being killed, as well as depleted food sources, is causing alarming problems for French residents.

According to some residents, farmers should be allowed to leave the carcasses on the land, or must be given permission to shoot the vultures that threaten their animals.