8 vultures of critically endangered species set to fly in wild

| | Chandigarh
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8 vultures of critically endangered species set to fly in wild

Monday, 06 August 2018 | Nishu Mahajan | Chandigarh

Vultures, the natural scavengers, have been dying a slow death over the months and years. However, there is a ray of light as the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre seeks to alter this trend

Eight vultures of critically endangered species of Oriental White-Backed vultures, bred in captivity are all set to spread their wings and fly in the wild.

For, the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre at Haryana’s Pinjore is enthusiastically preparing to release eight captive-bred vultures in the wild by the end of this year.

Since the release of eight White-Backed vultures in the wild would be a significant step under its conservation breeding programme, the Centre is treading with caution and monitoring the surrounding habitat of around 100 km ahead of the big moment.

Among these eight, six White-Backed vultures, born and bred in captivity at Pinjore’s Breeding Centre are 2-4 years old while two adult vultures are 9-10 years of age.

White-Backed vultures are notified as critically endangered species on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list of threatened birds globally. This vulture species among others had suffered an extremely rapid population decline primarily as a result of feeding on carcasses of animals treated with the veterinary drug diclofenac in the country.

At present, the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre (JCBC) houses 289 vultures of three different species – Oriental white-backed vultures, long-billed vultures and Slender-billed vultures—all listed as critically endangered species on the IUCN red list.

Spread over five acres of Haryana Forest Department land in Jodhpur village, the Breeding Centre lies at the edge of the Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary in Morni Hills.

“The Centre is preparing to release eight White-Backed vultures in the wild by the end of this year. Satellite transmitters will be attached to these vultures and it will allow the Centre to monitor their survival in the wild,” says Dr Vibhu Prakash, head JCBC Centre and Principal Scientist, Bombay Nature History Society while talking to The Pioneer.

The JCBC, established in September 2001 is a joint initiative between Bombay Natural History Society and the Haryana Forest Department.

Dr Prakash says, “Among the eight vultures, two adult vultures would be released so that they can teach a few tricks of survival to the other six. The captive bred birds usually lack survival skills to make it in the wild. The adult vultures were born in the wild and caught under the breeding programme. While the adult vultures would return to the wild after around eight years of captivity at the JCBC, the other six vultures will experience flight for the first time in natural environment.”

About tracking these vultures in the wild, he says, “With the help of satellite transmitters, the Centre will track the movement of these eight vultures for atleast a couple of years. The findings related to their behavior and survival will be vital for the release of other vultures in the future.”

If all goes well, the Centre has a plan to release 200 birds, in next 20 years of each species in the wild, he adds.

While the Centre had been planning to release eight White-Backed vultures since last year, the entire process was delayed due to necessary permissions from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Department of Telecommunications under Union Ministry of Communications.

Following the approval from the Union Ministry, the satellite transmitters would be procured at a cost of more than Rs 4 lakh each, he adds.

Dr Prakash tells, “Ahead of the release of these birds, we are monitoring the surrounding habitat in around 100 km to establish that the area is free of diclofenac and other harmful chemicals. Even after a ban on diclofenac, it is still being used. Apart from this, the surrounding area is being monitored to ensure if there will be ample supply of food for vultures.”

According to the ornithologists, the population of Gyps species common to the region-the Oriental White-Backed, the long-Billed and the Slender-Billed vultures- have declined by over 97 per cent since the 1990s, and that of the Oriental White-Backed vultures by an astonishing 99.9 per cent.

Till the early 1990s, the population size of Gyps vultures in India and Nepal alone was estimated to be about 40 million (four crore) and the number declined to below one lakh.

The overall cause of the decline had been identified as the drug called diclofenac, which is given to livestock as an anti-inflammatory drug. If the livestock dies within 72 hours of being treated with this drug, the carcass still contains dangerous levels of the drug, which is toxic to vultures if they feed on such carcasses, causing them to die of kidney failure.

The vulture, known as king scavengers plays a key role in the environment as ecosystem service provider as it feeds on carrion and keeps the natural environment clean and controls spreading viral diseases from decaying carrions.

Elaborating about the pre-release and post-release procedure to be followed at the Breeding Centre, Dr Prakash says, “We have been ensuring regular interaction between the captive vultures and wild vultures. This is being done to facilitate their union with the wild flock once the birds are released from here. Feeding places to provide food to wild vultures have been established near pre-release aviaries of captive birds.”

After the release of these captive scavengers, the Centre would provide food to their flock for atleast a year at these feeding places, he adds.

At the Breeding Centre, the vultures are fed twice a week on goat meat. One vulture is fed around three kilos of meat in a week which is equivalent to 5 per cent of its body weight every day. Vultures are given freshly slaughtered goat carcasses, after removing the skin. To ensure that there is no diclofenac in the tissues of the goat carcasses, a herd of goats is kept in the care of the Centre for at least ten days before slaughter.

Interestingly, it is not for the first time that the JCBC will release captive-bred birds in the wild. Earlier, two captive-bred Himalayan Griffons vultures were released in the year 2016 to observe how long they survive in the wild.

According to the IUCN red list, Himalayan Griffons (Gyps himalayensis) is notified as near threatened species.

“Ahead of releasing critically endangered species bred in captivity at the Centre, we had decided to release two Himalayan Griffons in 2016 to observe various patterns related to survival, behavior and natural habitat. Unfortunately, we could not attach satellite transmitters to these birds,” Dr Prakash says.

While tags were attached to these two birds for identification, they could not be observed for a long time. A team of 20 members observed one bird for around 47 days while the other one was never seen again after the release.

The Centre had distributed pamphlets in the surrounding villages and made efforts to track these birds but to no avail.

At present, 289 vultures are housed in the Centre. There are 25 breeding pairs each of Oriental White-Backed vultures and long-Billed vultures while there are 13 breeding pairs of Slender-billed vultures. The founder stock has been collected from various States including Assam, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

By 2017, 23 Slender-billed, 67 Oriental white-backed and 107 long-billed vultures have successfully hatched and fledged on nests, in captivity, at the Centre, Dr Prakash informs.

The vultures can reach an age of 40 years and above in the wild, he adds.

The Bombay Nature History Society (BNHS) has been monitoring the population of vultures across India since early nineties.

In 2007, crude estimates of the population size for each species were 11,000 for Oriental White-Backed vultures, 45000 for long-Billed vultures and 1,000 for Slender-Bill vultures in the country, according to a research by BNHS.

In 2012, the nationwide survey findings were encouraging reporting a slowdown in the decline for all three species and the possible first sign of recovery in the Oriental White-Backed vulture.

However, in 2015 nationwide survey by BNHS, estimates were approximately 6,000 Oriental White-Backed, 12000 long-Billed and 1,000 Slender-Billed vultures which are alarmingly low.

As per the BNHS research paper, “The positive trend for Oriental White-Backed vulture population appears to be continuing while the long-Billed vulture population continues to decline. For the rarest of the three species- the Slender-Billed vulture-, numbers counted are now too small to estimate a reliable trend.”

TK Roy, ecologist and Asia Waterbird Census (AWC) Delhi State-coordinator while talking to The Pioneer says, “At present, the population of some species of vultures is gradually increasing in this region. In some parts of Punjab and Himachal, flocks of endangered Egyptian Vulture and Himalayan Griffons have been spotted in the recent surveys.”

“Presence of large number of Egyptian Vultures has been observed at Ropar in Punjab during surveys. The Egyptian Vultures are also breeding within the human habitat at Punjabi University in Patiala,” he says.

Roy tells, “In the previous years, the concept of vulture restaurant for conservation and increasing vulture population in the wild by providing safe food (carcass) to vultures had also helped in stabilizing the population of vultures in this region. But the project was abandoned due to lack of funds. This concept was found successful at the site ‘Chandola’ of Dhar in Pathankot district of Punjab (bordered with Himachal and J&K). The project had managed to attract good number of Himalayan Griffons. White-Backed vultures, Egyptian vultures were also spotted at these feeding stations.”

“During surveys in neighboring Himachal, vulture species of Himalayan Griffon, White-Backed, Egyptian vultures have been spotted at Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary in Kangra and Kalatop Khajjiar Wildlife Sanctuary in Chamba district, he adds.

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