White-rumped vulture N10 covered 3000 km in five months before being found weak in Chhattisgarh. “Over a week ago, the vulture was found dehydrated in the jungle safari near Raipur. It is currently under observation, and once it regains its ideal weight, it will be released,” Rithe said. Chhattisgarh’s forest department plans
The rescued vulture with the satellite tag
A White-rumped vulture (N10) has travelled over 3000 km and was rescued more than a week ago in a dehydrated condition near Raipur in Chhattisgarh. The bird was satellite-tagged at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) on August 3, 2024. Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Director Kishor Rithe told mid-day that N10 covered this journey over a span of more than five months, flying across Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh.
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“Over a week ago, the vulture was found dehydrated in the jungle safari near Raipur. It is currently under observation, and once it regains its ideal weight, it will be released,” Rithe said. Chhattisgarh’s forest department plans to release the bird in Achanakmar Tiger Reserve.
Route taken by the vulture across Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh
On January 2, mid-day reported on another GPS-tagged vulture that travelled 4,000 km from Tadoba in Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu. This vulture’s journey took it through Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, back to Maharashtra, and then to Tamil Nadu via Karnataka. During its travels, it had to be rescued and treated twice due to weakness but managed to reach Tamil Nadu without further complications.
As part of India’s vulture conservation efforts, Maharashtra’s Forest Department and BNHS GPS-tagged 10 endangered long-billed vultures. These birds were sourced from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore, Haryana, and housed in pre-release aviaries at Pench Tiger Reserve before being introduced into the wild at both Pench and Tadoba.
The Jatayu Conservation Project was launched at Tadoba on January 21, 2024, by then-Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in collaboration with BNHS. The initiative aims to restore vulture populations, which saw a drastic decline between 1990 and 2006 due to fatalities caused by the NSAID drug Diclofenac. Banned for veterinary use in 2006 under the Union Ministry of Environment’s Vulture Action Plan, its prohibition has contributed to the gradual revival of vulture numbers through breeding programmes in Haryana, Assam, MP, and Bengal. The recent release of 10 white-backed vultures and 10 long-billed vultures in Tadoba and Pench represents a crucial milestone in India’s vulture conservation efforts.
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