Mumbai, Aug 8 (PTI) Decades after toxic veterinary drugs decimated 99 per cent of India’s scavenger populations, conservation authorities have orchestrated a historic global first with the soft release of captive-bred vultures into the wild in Assam.
Ten buzzards — comprising five rare slender-billed and five white-rumped — stepped out of isolation into their natural forest habitat on Friday at the Jatayu Soft Release Centre in Tewaripal of Assam’s Biswanath district, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) said in a statement.
The release is the culmination of a conservation breeding programme jointly run by the Assam forest department and BNHS since 2007.
The birds had been shifted from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Rani to the release aviary in Biswanath three months ago for acclimatisation before being introduced into the wild.
India’s populations of Gyps vultures declined by 99 per cent in the last 20 years due to poisoning caused by veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), particularly diclofenac. The government has since banned veterinary use of diclofenac as well as aceclofenac, ketoprofen, and nimesulide.
In Assam, pesticide poisoning of livestock carcasses continues to pose an additional threat to vultures.
Kaziranga National Park established the dedicated release aviary at Biswanath as part of the programme to facilitate the scientific reintroduction of captive-bred vultures into their natural habitat.
Assam Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, Biswanath MLA Pallab Lochan Das, Special Chief Secretary M Yadav, Chief Wildlife Warden Vinay Gupta, Kaziranga National Park Director C Ramesh and BNHS Deputy Director Sachin Ranade attended the release programme, the statement said.
The gate of the release aviary was opened from a distance using a pulley to ensure the natural behaviour of vultures is undisturbed, while officials monitored their movements from a CCTV-equipped monitoring tower.
Each released bird carries a numbered blue leg ring and a tag on its back to enable monitoring.
The BNHS has appealed to livestock owners and the public not to use banned NSAID veterinary drugs or spray pesticides on animal carcasses, which are the natural food source for scavengers. It also urged people to inform the forest department or the BNHS if they sight tagged vultures, the release added. PTI MR ARU
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