Rehabilitated vulture travels over 1,600 km in eight weeks after release in Maharashtra

A rehabilitated Indian vulture has travelled more than 1600 km over 56 days after its release into the wild in Maharashtra showing strong survival skills and marking a major success in the conservation programme wildlife experts said on SundayThe vulture covered its longest single day journey of 168 km on June 17 researchers at the Bombay Natural History Society BNHS saidThe bird tagged J132 was released in Nashik on June 7 after two earlier release attempts ended with its recapture to improve its physical condition and chances of survivalThe vulture has travelled more than 1618 km over the past eight weeks showing strong flying ability survival skills and adaptation to the wild the BNHS said in a statementCrucially field monitoring teams observed J132 successfully associating with multiple wild vultures in the Dol Ohol and Deodongra areas of Nashik BNHS Director Kishor Rithe saidEven during periods of very heavy rainfall teams visually confirmed the tagged bird independently locating and feeding on cattle carcasses alongside the wild flock proving his complete behavioural adaptation he addedSatellite tracking over the past eight weeks showed the bird has maintained a steady average daily flight distance with its longest singleday flight measuring 168 km on June 17 It has been moving across northern Nashik an important habitat for vultures and has also flown along the MaharashtraGujarat border including parts of Valsad district according to the statementThe bird was first released at the Pench Tiger Reserve on December 11 2025 as part of the second batch of captivebred Indian vultures It flew more than 750 km to Nashik within 20 days before researchers recaptured it to improve its fitnessA second release earlier this year was also followed by recapture before the bird was released for the third time on June 7 in Nashik and it has completed 56 continuous days in the wild demonstrating exceptional navigational ability site fidelity and survival instincts the BNHS saidRithe said the bird has now fully adapted to life in the wildEven during heavy monsoon rains the bird was seen independently locating cattle carcasses and feeding alongside wild vultures showing natural behaviour and successful integration into the wild population he saidBNHS researcher Manansingh Mahadev who is monitoring the bird said J132s continued presence in northern Nashik highlights the importance of the region for the conservation of critically endangered Gyps vulturesThe rugged cliffs and favourable habitat make northern Nashik an important refuge for vultures Tracking J132 will help us identify future release sites and strengthen conservation planning he saidResearchers also said the bird remained safely perched during periods of heavy rain in late July demonstrating natural behaviour in coping with harsh weatherThe successful rehabilitation of J132 is an encouraging step in efforts to restore Indias critically endangered vulture population the BNHS saidThis 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