In Landmark Moment, 13 Critically Endangered Vultures Released In Bengal

Of the twenty gyps vultures released at Rajabhat Khawa in West Bengal's Alipurduar on Friday, 13 are oriental white-backed vultures, and 7 are rescued himalayan griffon vultures.

In another landmark moment for vulture conservation in India, the third phase of the reintroduction programme of the critically endangered oriental white-backed vultures was launched this week. As forest department officials quietly lifted the gate of the release aviary at the Rajabhat Khawa Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve, with the help of a pulley located in a hide 50 meters away from the aviary, 20 vultures were released in the wild as part of an effort to repopulate the ecosystem with these species.

Deputy Field Director of the Buxa Tiger Reserve, Parveen Kaswan, told NDTV, "This is the third batch of release of oriental White-backed vultures here. With this, we are happy to claim that Rajabhatkhawa centre has released the maximum number of oriental white-backed vultures in India, which is an important milestone as far as conservation of vultures in India is concerned. We are hopeful and happy about this initiative."

Of the twenty gyps vultures released at Rajabhat Khawa in West Bengal's Alipurduar on Friday, 13 are oriental white-backed vultures, and 7 are rescued himalayan griffon vultures.

All thirteen captive-bred oriental White-backed vultures are sub-adults and are fitted with satellite tags that are known as Platform Transmitter Terminal (PTT), which makes it possible to monitor the movement of these birds wherever they go. The oriental white-backed Vultures are residents in West Bengal, so they are likely to remain in West Bengal itself, but may visit neighbouring states like Assam, Meghalaya, and countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.