Captive-bred vulture soars 3,334 km from Maharashtra to Ranthambore

A captivebred Indian vulture released in Maharashtras Melghat in January this year has covered an astonishing 3334 km soaring across states before reaching the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan wildlife experts said on WednesdayThe bird survived without any supplementary feeding in the wild demonstrating the ability of captivebred vultures to adapt to natural environments locate food independently and undertake longdistance movements Bombay Natural History Society BNHS director Kishor Rithe saidThis achievement represents a significant milestone for the vulture conservation programme highlighting the potential of captivebred release initiatives to help recover vulture populations in India he said in a statementDuring its extensive voyage the bird also visited the Satpura Tiger Reserve near Pachmarhi and Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh the countrys cheetah reintroduction site before reaching the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve on Tuesday he saidThe longbilled vulture Gyps indicus named X67 is a fiveyearold female and was one of 15 captivebred vultures fitted with solarpowered tracking tags and released on January 2 from the Somthana range of the Akot wildlife division in the Melghat Tiger ReserveIt then remained scavenging in the vicinity of the release site for nearly four months gradually adapting to natural conditions the official saidThe bird dispersed from the Melghat Tiger Reserve on May 28 and embarked on an extensive journey across central India It travelled through Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan eventually reaching Ranthambore National Park covering a total distance of 3334 km a BNHS statement saidOver a period of 27 days it made temporary roosting stops at the Satpura National Park the Bhopal region and Kuno National Park before arriving at Ranthambore it saidThe most important finding is that this route indicates that vultures prefer the tiger reserve and protected area network as wild carrions are still available due to the good presence of carnivores Rithe saidAll 15 vultures released from Melghat were fitted with bluecoloured leg rings carrying identification numbers The blue colour shows that the ringing was done in India and the letter M indicates Maharashtra as the release site the release saidThe tags are solarpowered and help scientists track the movement travel distance safety and survival of the vultures after their release into the wild it addedThis 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