White-backed vultures bred in captivity to be released soon

“It is important to eliminate potential threats. The government banned multi-vial dose for human consumption in 2015,” said principal scientist, Dr Vibhu Prakash, who is also programme head, National-level Vulture Conservation Team of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Teams have begun surveying states of Himachal, Punjab and Haryana to check use of the drug.

The release will be part of the Asia’s first ‘Gyps Vulture Reintroduction Programme’ which was launched on June 4. However, it will only happen once they are granted permission for tagging the birds with platform transmitter terminal (PTT). “Without it, it is extremely difficult to monitor their movement after release. We cannot take the risk of losing track of them, as they are critically endangered,” asserts Dr Prakash, “We have sought permission and we hope to get it before December.”

“Without PTT, we can only rely on information given by public,” said Dr Prakash.

Eight birds, which were selected for release have been shifted to pre-release aviaries to help them acclimatise to the outside environment. “Six are young and captive-bred. The two adults are not captive-bred. They will act as guides for the young ones when they fly into the wild,” says Dr Prakash.