Assam records world’s first-ever release of captive-bred slender-billed vultures
Ten captive-bred vultures — five slender-billed vultures (Gyps tenuirostris) and five white-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) — were soft-released into the wild at the Jatayu Soft Release Centre in Tewaripal, Biswanath Wildlife Division, Assam.
This is being recorded as the world's first-ever release of captive-bred slender-billed vultures, with each bird fitted with a numbered leg ring and a GSM-GPS satellite tracking tag for post-release monitoring; a CCTV-equipped observation tower also tracks the birds.
The release was carried out under the joint vulture conservation programme run by the Assam Forest Department and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), which has operated since 2007.
The released birds were reared at the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Rani (Assam) and shifted roughly three months earlier to the Biswanath release aviary to acclimatise to natural conditions before release.
The Gyps Vulture Population Crash and Diclofenac
Three vulture species native to India — the white-rumped vulture, the Indian (long-billed) vulture, and the slender-billed vulture — collapsed by over 95-99% from their early-1990s numbers within about a decade, one of the fastest wildlife population declines ever recorded. The cause was diclofenac, a cheap veterinary anti-inflammatory drug given to cattle; vultures that fed on carcasses of recently treated animals suffered fatal kidney failure (visceral gout). India banned the veterinary use of diclofenac in 2006 — the first country in the world to do so — after which the rate of decline slowed for some species.
Key Details
- By around 2007, white-rumped vulture numbers had crashed to about 0.1% of their early-1990s population; the Indian and slender-billed vultures combined had fallen to about 3.2%.
- All three Gyps species — white-rumped, Indian, and slender-billed vultures — are classified Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
- The veterinary NSAID diclofenac was banned for animal use in India in 2006 under the Drugs Controller General of India; human formulations remain legal, and misuse (multi-dose vials for veterinary use) has continued to be flagged as a residual threat.
The slender-billed vulture, the species being released for the first time from captive breeding anywhere in the world, is one of the three species hit hardest by the diclofenac crisis — making this release directly relevant to India's flagship vulture recovery effort.
Conservation Breeding and India's Vulture Action Plan
Since natural recovery was too slow given near-zero wild breeding success, India set up a network of Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centres (VCBCs) — starting with Pinjore (Haryana, 2001) and later at Rani (Assam), Rajabhatkhawa (West Bengal), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), and Junagadh (Gujarat) — under the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in partnership with state forest departments, working within the SAVE (Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction) consortium framework. India's Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025 builds on the 2006 plan, aiming to expand breeding centres, designate "vulture safe zones," and reintroduce captive-bred birds into the wild once population and habitat conditions allow.
Key Details
- Slender-billed, white-rumped, Indian (long-billed), and bearded vultures are listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — the highest protection category, banning hunting and trade.
- The SAVE consortium includes BNHS, RSPB (UK), Zoological Society of London, and Bird Conservation Nepal, among others, coordinating captive breeding, "vulture safe zone" advocacy, and cross-border conservation across South Asia.
- The Rani (Assam) breeding centre, established in 2007, now holds well over a hundred birds across the two species combined, built up over nearly two decades of captive breeding before this release milestone.
This release is the first practical test of moving captive-bred slender-billed vultures — the slowest-breeding and most fragile of the three crashed species — from breeding centres back into the wild, a step the 2020-2025 Action Plan explicitly anticipated once sufficient captive stock existed.
- 10 vultures released on 7-8 August 2026: 5 slender-billed vultures + 5 white-rumped vultures, at Jatayu Soft Release Centre, Tewaripal, Biswanath Wildlife Division, Assam.
- All three affected Gyps species (white-rumped, Indian, slender-billed) are IUCN Critically Endangered and Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Diclofenac (veterinary use) was banned in India in 2006; population declines of over 95-99% occurred through the 1990s-2000s.
- The Assam Forest Department-BNHS joint vulture conservation programme has run since 2007; released birds were bred at the Rani Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre.