Conservation of white-rumped vultures in progress in Nepal

Published: March 16, 2018 3:32 pm On: Nepal

CHITWAN: The conservation of critically endangered white-rumped vultures conducted by the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre (VCBC) in Kasara, Chitwan National Park (CNP) is in progress.

The VCBC was established in 2007 to conduct captive breeding of critically endangered vulture species that have gone through catastrophic decline across South Asia.

Currently, there are 57 white-rumped vultures in VCBC. Of the total, 25 are males and 24 females while eight others are babies which have not been identified yet. Agriculture and Forestry University Rampur, Chitwan has been conducting DNA tests on the scavenger birds to identify their gender.

Although it was difficult to hatch the eggs in the beginning, six out of 18 eggs were hatched this season at the centre that conducted breeding of vultures brought from different places, according to Supervisor of VCBC, CNP Assistant Conservation Officer Bed Bahadur Khadka.

Last year, 15 vultures had laid eggs, but only nine of them hatched. The scavenger birds had laid eggs for the first time in 2012 but were unable to hatch out. Nevertheless, they hatched for the first time in 2013. In the following year, no eggs were laid, but an egg was hatched successfully in 2015.

The conservation of critically endangered vultures has been expedited to facilitate growth in their population, CNP Assistant Conservation Officer and Information Officer Nurendra Aryal said. The breeding has played a significant role in conservation of the near-extinct birds as many of them have been set free into the nature, Aryal added.

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The big moment: Nepal releases its first ever captive-reared vultures

20 Nov 2017

Watch as conservation history is made: six captive-reared Critically Endangered White-rumped Vultures venture out into the wild. This comes at a time when the world is finally waking up to the plight of vultures.

By Jessica Law

The moment has finally arrived. Bait is placed outside the entrance of the pre-release aviary, and the door is opened from a remote hide. As wild vultures descended to feed, five out of our six yellow-tagged protagonists are lured outside to join in in the scrum. Soon they are squabbling and interacting with them as if they’d always been part of the gang. And, in a way, they had – in the weeks before their release, they had been socialising with wild vultures through the wire while exercising their wings.

It’s been a fantastic couple of months for vultures. In October, the ambitious Multi-species Action Plan to save 15 vulture species over 128 countries was endorsed with enthusiasm at the Convention on Migratory Species Conference of Parties in Manila. At almost exactly the same time in India, the Madras high Court ruled to uphold the dosage restriction on vulture-killing drug diclofenac. And last week, in Nepal, six captive-reared White-rumped Vultures were finally released into a wild that, for the first time in decades, could be truly vulture-safe.

Continued