Back from brink: India's vultures stage comeback as captive-breeding, release efforts gather pace

Two decades after toxic veterinary drugs cleared Indias skies of its ultimate scavengers vultures are making a comeback with more than 700 birds bred in captivity and phased wildrelease programmes turning protected tiger reserves into their new safe havensLed by the Bombay Natural History Society BNHS and state governments the recovery initiative for the critically endangered whiterumped longbilled and slenderbilled vulture species has entered a vital new phase with experimental releases across Haryana West Bengal Maharashtra and Assam BNHS director Kishor Rithe saidMoreover monitoring through GPS and GSM transmitters has already shown encouraging survival and dispersal patterns with a longbilled vulture released from Pench travelling 750 km to Nashik Maharashtra in 17 daysRithe however noted that longterm success would depend on the availability of safe food sources beyond protected areas such as sanctuaries national parks and conservation reservesThe breeding and release programme can succeed only when a safe environment is created for vultures beyond protected areas Eliminating harmful NSAIDs and ensuring safe food sources remain critical for the recovery of these species he saidThe BNHS first documented the sharp decline in vulture populations across the Indian subcontinent in 1999 and subsequent research established that diclofenac a veterinary nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug NSAID was responsible for mass mortality among the birdsThis finding prompted a ban on the drug in 2006 followed by subsequent prohibitions on other toxic variants like ketoprofen aceclofenac and nimesulide Rithe saidTo prevent total extinction the BNHS and state forest departments with the support of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds RSPB established four Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centres at Pinjore Haryana Rajabhatkhawa West Bengal Rani Assam and Bhopal Madhya PradeshThese facilities currently house 740 vultures The programme has supplied 80 birds and released 110 vultures into the wild as part of reintroduction effortsThe reintroduction efforts have already shown remarkable milestones such as captivebred whiterumped vultures released in Haryana in 2020 have begun breeding naturally in the wild Meanwhile 31 birds released from West Bengal have dispersed safely across India Nepal and Bhutan with zero reported NSAIDlinked mortalitiesMaharashtra has emerged as a major centre for vulture reintroduction with releases taking place in Pench TadobaAndhari and Melghat Tiger ReservesRecent conservation focus has shifted heavily toward secure tiger reserves such as Pench TadobaAndhari and Melghat where large landscapes offer abundant natural carrion free from domestic cattle drugsAs many as 20 vultures were transferred to Maharashtra from Haryana in 2024 and another 34 birds in 2025 for phased release programmes while Assam initiated its first softrelease of slenderbilled vultures in the Kaziranga landscape this MarchConservationists said tiger reserves have become ideal release sites because large protected landscapes are largely free from harmful veterinary drugs and provide abundant natural food sources and wild carrion of deer species like chital and sambarCitizenscience surveys cited by BNHS have recorded increasing vulture population trends in several protected areas and tiger reserves indicating that conservation measures and improved habitat protection are beginning to reverse decades of declineThe programme is being implemented with support from the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change the Central Zoo Authority state forest departments and several national and international conservation organisationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever