Bhupender Yadav visits Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre in Pinjore

New Delhi: Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, on Monday visited the Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre, Pinjore.

The Minister has said that the vultures may be released in the wild after breeding and assured technical and financial support for the development of the Jatayu Vulture Breeding Centre.

It is proposed to release Oriental white-backed Vultures during the year 2023-24 in the wild. The released birds will be monitored closely for atleast a year with satellite transmitters and will look for any behaviour problems to make sure that they adjust well to the wild conditions and that there is no mortality due to diclofenac poisoning.

Thereafter the birds would be released regularly in the wild every year. The Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre (JCBC), was established to investigate the dramatic declines in the population of three India’s Gyps species of vultures, the Oriental white-backed, Long-billed and Slender-billed vultures, from looming extinction.

It is a collaborative initiative between the Haryana Forest Department and Bombay Natural History Society.

The main objectives of the centre were to establish a founder population of 25 pairs of each of the 3 species of vultures and to produce a population of at least 200 birds, in 15 years of each species to be reintroduced to the wild.

Pankaj Goyal , Principal Chief Conservator, Forest Wildlife said that the centre has continued its efforts to make the environment safe for vultures in the wild by monitoring the prevalence of vulture toxic drugs specially diclofenac in veterinary use by carrying out cattle carcass samplings across the country.

The Centre is coordinating Zoo of Central Zoo Authority for Vulture Conservation Breeding Programme. The Centre received Technical and financial support from the Central Zoo Authority.

He also said that different species of exotic birds and animals are being brought into the state of Haryana from other states at Pipli, Rohtak and Bhiwani Zoos for the promotion and development of Wildlife Tourism and to generate awareness among students for wildlife and the environment.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF) Jagdish Chandra said that the Centre will also be providing founder stock of vultures to other Vulture Conservation Breeding facilities in the country.