NEWS: Five captive-bred Slender-billed Vultures were released at Kaziranga National Park, Assam, marking the first global release of captive-bred individuals of this species.

ABOUT

• Scientific name: Gyps tenuirostris
• Type: Old World vulture; primarily a scavenger.
• Range: India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Nepal.
• Indian distribution: Gangetic Plains, Himachal Pradesh, northern Odisha and eastern Assam.
• Habitat: Forests, savannas, shrublands, grasslands and areas near human settlements.

MAJOR THREAT

• Diclofenac, a veterinary painkiller, causes severe toxicity and kidney failure when vultures consume contaminated carcasses.
• Gyps vulture populations in India declined by around 99% over two decades.

CONSERVATION STATUS

• IUCN: Critically Endangered.
• CMS: Appendix I.
• Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022: Schedule I.

CONSERVATION INITIATIVE

• Bred at Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre, Guwahati.
• Released through the Jatayu Soft Release Centre, Kaziranga.
• Soft release allows captive-bred birds to gradually adapt to natural conditions.