First captive-bred slender billed vultures released in Assam to boost population
Five slender-billed vultures released in Biswanath as part of a joint effort by Kaziranga authorities and BNHS to revive the endangered species.
The slender-billed vultures
Mirza, March 24: The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve authority, in collaboration with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), on Saturday released five slender-billed vultures into the newly constructed soft release aviary in Biswanath district.
This step is aimed at rebuilding the population of slender-billed vultures in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
The event took place in the presence of BNHS president Praveen Pardeshi, chief wildlife warden of Assam Dr Vinay Gupta, director of the BNHS Kishor Rithe, field director of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve Dr Sonali Ghosh, field director of the Nameri Tiger Reserve Dr Sachin Ranade, and the centre manager of the BNHS cum DFO of Biswanath, Ritupaban Borah.
This is the first release of any captivity-bred slender-billed vultures in India. The Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Rani has so far bred 56 slender-billed vultures and has reached a stage where the forest department can release 5-10 slender-billed vultures (SBV) into the wild every year.
The BNHS has also bred around 60 slender-billed vultures at its breeding centre in Haryana, which can provide birds for release from the soft release aviary constructed at Tewaripal village within the Biswanath Forest Division.
The vultures were transferred from Rani to Biswanath on Friday and released into the soft release aviary for acclimatisation for a few months.
Praveen Pardeshi lauded the efforts of State’s forest department and the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve authority to rebuild the slender-billed vulture population. He specifically appreciated the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve authority for connecting the local community with the conservation of vultures.
Dr Vinay Gupta said that this experiment will attract tourists to this village and that could provide livelihood for local youngsters.
Dr Sonali Ghosh appreciated the BNHS’s work and said that the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve authority is committed to taking extra efforts for conservation of lesser-known wild animals and birds. She informed that wild slender-billed vultures breed naturally in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, but this sort of release of captivity-bred birds may help increase their population.