Mumbai, Jan 6 (PTI) The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has released 15 critically endangered Indian vultures at the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra as part of its ongoing vulture conservation programme, officials said.
The scavenger birds were translocated from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore to the Somthana Range of Melghat in Amravati district on April 23 last year and were subsequently kept in a pre-release aviary to help them acclimatise to the local conditions, they said.
All the vultures were fitted with GSM and satellite tags on December 19, 2025, to enable scientists to track their movement, and survival after release into the wild.
The soft release process began on January 2, when the aviary gates were opened remotely and food was placed outside the enclosure to encourage the birds to emerge naturally.
The programme faced challenges, such as limited food availability, the absence of a resident vulture population to guide the captive-bred birds and the continued presence of harmful veterinary drugs in the landscape, BNHS conservation biologist Bhaskar Das said in a statement.
“These challenges were addressed by establishing feeding stations and sourcing safe cattle carcasses through active partnerships with gaushalas,” he said.
The release was carried out by BNHS director Kishor Rithe along with Somthana range forest officer Vinil Hatwar in the presence of assistant conservator of forests Ganesh Tekade, with support from BNHS staff members.
“Melghat has been a stronghold of long-billed vultures. We hope the birds will learn to live here again,” Rithe said. PTI ND NP
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