A white-rumped vulture

Ranchi, July 27: The second vulture conservation breeding centre of eastern India would come up near Ormanjhi to save the raptors which have become globally threatened in the past few years.

The state forest environment and wildlife department has decided to set up an aviary for breeding vultures in captivity. It also plans to launch a special programme and drive to save about 300 vultures found in and around Hazaribagh.

Alarmed at the fall in the population of vultures in southeast Asia, especially in India, where the numbers plummeted over 90 per cent, the government came forward to protect the birds once found in abundance.

This Rs 80-lakh centre — to be developed with help from Central Zoo Authority — will have experts to catch the birds from the wild and provide them natural habitat at the quarantined aviary to encourage breeding and then finally release them. The first such centre was set up in Pinjore, Haryana, in 2004 while the second one came up in Rajabhatkhawa in north Bengal in 2006.

A study by Bombay Natural History Society stated that the vultures of genus Gyps are threatened in the country, as their number dwindled following consumption of diclofenac — a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory veterinary drug used in cattle — while they feed on carcasses of cows and buffaloes. Sources said that in spite of the fact that a technical advisory committee had been constituted in Jharkhand and the animal husbandry department and state drug controller had been asked to ban diclofenac, it was in regular use and readily available in the market. Three species of vultures, including white-rumped vulture (Gyps Bengalensis), long-billed vulture (Gyps Indicus) and Egyptian vulture (Neophron Percnopterus) are found in the state.

Chief wildlife warden A.K. Singh said that about 300 vultures had been spotted by officials in and around Hazaribagh town. The government would start a mass awareness drive, regular monitoring of the bird population, development of feeding sites and ensuring diclofenac-free carcasses as feed. It would also supply meloxicam as alternative to diclofenac.