In an important step for wildlife conservation, the Central Zoo Authority of India has permitted the release of captive-reared critically endangered vultures from the Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre at Rani near Guwahati into the 6th Addition of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve under the Bishwanath Wildlife Division. This is the first time that vultures bred in captivity in Assam will be released into the wild. According to the official approval, 30 White-rumped Vultures and five Slender-billed Vultures will be sent from the Rani centre to Kaziranga. Both species are among the most threatened birds in the world and are listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. They are also protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, which gives them the highest level of legal protection in India. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared the development on social media and described the release as a unique step in conserving nature and living beings. In his message, which was originally in Assamese, he said that the birds play an important role in maintaining environmental balance and expressed appreciation for all those involved in the conservation programme. He also referred to the heroic figures of Jatayu and Sampati from the Ramayana while describing the return of the vultures to the wild.
Assam is considered one of the last remaining strongholds for slender-billed vultures, with Kaziranga and its surrounding areas being important breeding grounds. However, numbers have continued to fall over the years due to poisoning linked mainly to carcasses of cattle treated with veterinary drugs such as diclofenac. White-rumped vultures are also present across the state, but they too have declined sharply. Because of this ongoing situation, the captive-breeding centre at Rani has become an important source for saving the species. Vultures have played different roles in Indian society, especially in rural areas, where they were once common near cremation sites and riverbanks. Their presence was seen as part of the natural cycle in which carrion was removed from the environment. They also appear in Hindu literature, and the references to Jatayu and other characters underline the cultural value attached to the species. Across India, vulture populations crashed by more than 95 percent between the 1990s and 2000s. The main cause was diclofenac, a veterinary pain-relief drug that poisoned the birds when they fed on dead animals. Even a very small percentage of contaminated carcasses was enough to cause mass deaths. Other factors such as habitat loss and poisoning from pesticides have also contributed. The decline in vultures led to an increase in feral dogs and related diseases such as rabies, creating a wider public-health impact. Although diclofenac was banned for veterinary use in 2006, vulture numbers have not yet recovered fully and remain low.
The Bishwanath Wildlife Division has been chosen for the release due to its forested landscape and the availability of natural food sources within Kaziranga’s extended area. The authorities have created a special release aviary near the Tewaripal forest camp in consultation with experts from the Bombay Natural History Society. The birds will undergo what is known as a soft-release process, during which they will slowly adapt to wild conditions before fully leaving the aviary in the coming months. At the same time, the Forest Department, BNHS and other partners have been conducting awareness programmes for local communities, veterinarians and educational institutions about the importance of vultures and the need to avoid harmful drugs and pesticides. These steps are meant to reduce the risks that still exist for wild populations. The Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Rani, which is run jointly by the Assam Forest Department and BNHS, has been one of the key centres for breeding South Asian vulture species. BNHS has said that the release of captive-bred birds will start with a small number and will gradually expand. A plan has already been mentioned for the release of additional birds in Kamrup and Biswanath districts over the next one to two years. For more than 15 years, BNHS and its partners have bred over 800 vultures in different centres. The long-term plan is to create wild populations that can survive without human support and eventually restore the species in areas where they have disappeared. These conservation programmes also involve monitoring of veterinary drugs and community-based efforts to prevent poisoning incidents.