In a boost to India’s vulture conservation campaign, the Forest Department of Maharashtra and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) took 20 endangered vultures from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore, Haryana, and released them in two tiger reserves in Maharashtra. The vultures were placed in pre-release aviaries at the Pench Tiger Reserve and the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). Both the tiger reserves have previously built aviaries to accommodate them.

Ten long-billed vultures have been released in the pre-release aviary in Pench Tiger Reserve’s East Pench range, which has already been a home to vultures for many years. In TATR, Sudhir Mungantiwar, state cabinet minister for forests, cultural affairs and fisheries launched the Jatayu Conservation Project on January 21. The Jatayu Conservation Center is a major initiative of the TATR and BNHS, Mumbai, and it aims to re-establish the population of endangered vultures in the area. In the project’s first phase, 10 white-rumped vultures have been kept under the care of researchers in the pre-release aviary in Botezari area, Kolsa range, TATR.