Each week, Atlas Obscura is providing a new short excerpt from our upcoming book, Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders (September 17, 2024). Like most dump sites, the Boragaon landfill in Guwahati, Assam, is an overwhelming place, made up of ever-shifting piles of colorful trash. Unlike most dump sites, the Boragaon is overseen by a platoon of enormous, Muppet-like endangered storks known as greater adjutants. Nearly 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, with striking ice-blue eyes and large wedge-like bills, any greater adjutant could easily star in…
