Assam: Centre approves transfer of critically endangered vultures to Kaziranga Wildlife Division
Guwahati: The Central Zoo Authority (CZA), under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), has approved the transfer of 30 white-rumped vultures and five slender-billed vultures from Assam’s Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre in Rani, near Guwahati.
The birds will be moved to the Bishwanath Wildlife Division, marking the sixth such release site in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Both species are classified as ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List and are protected under Schedule-I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which provides the highest legal protection.
Assam is the main habitat for slender-billed vultures in India, with breeding populations concentrated near Kaziranga National Park.
However, their numbers are declining due to threats such as poisoning from pesticide-contaminated cattle carcasses.
White-rumped vultures, found throughout Assam, face similar declines, prompting conservation initiatives at places like the Rani breeding centre.
Vultures are seen as symbols of environmental balance and purity in rural areas.
The veterinary drug diclofenac, commonly used to treat livestock, has caused kidney failure and visceral gout in vultures feeding on treated carcasses.
Its widespread use in India, Pakistan, and Nepal since the 1990s has contributed to mass vulture deaths.
The Bishwanath Wildlife Division was chosen for the release because of its large forested areas, abundant carrion, ongoing anti-poaching measures, and vulture-friendly veterinary practices, all of which support natural foraging and nesting behaviours.
Kaziranga National Park authorities, with technical guidance from BNHS, have built a release aviary near the Tewaripal forest camp, from which the vultures will be released into the wild in the coming months.
Alongside the release, awareness programmes have been conducted for local communities to highlight the ecological role of vultures and the threats they face.