Why in the news
A female vulture from India’s captive-breeding programme died after touching a power line in the Nilgiris. The case showed both the value and the limits of radio tracking when reintroducing endangered birds.
Key facts
- Bird: female white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), radio code Z25, captive-bred at Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore (BNHS with Haryana Forest Department).
- Death: 28 June 2026, on a transmission line near Ebbanad/Kallatti village, Sigur plateau, near Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.
- Release history: one of five birds tagged at Tadoba on 22 December 2025 and freed at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve on 30 December 2025.
- Movement: it flew south, was caught in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, kept briefly at the zoological park there, and released at Mudumalai on 7 April 2026.
- Monitoring: BNHS telemetry data showed it drifting away from the wild; relocation to a breeding centre was reportedly being weighed when it died.
| Resident vultures in India | IUCN |
|---|
| White-rumped, Indian long-billed, slender-billed, red-headed | Critically Endangered |
| Egyptian vulture | Endangered |
| Bearded vulture (lammergeier) | Near Threatened globally; Schedule I in India |
| Migratory vultures in India | IUCN |
|---|
| Himalayan griffon | Near Threatened |
| Cinereous vulture | Near Threatened |
| Eurasian griffon | Least Concern |
Radio telemetry
- Fits an animal with a transmitter whose signals are followed through receivers or satellites.
- Reveals movement, home range, dispersal, migration, survival and cause of death.
- Types: VHF (line-of-sight), satellite/PTT (GPS) and GSM (mobile network based).
- In vulture work, it shows whether released captive-bred birds are coping in the wild.
About the white-rumped vulture
- Also called Oriental or Indian white-backed vulture; family Accipitridae, genus Gyps; native to India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
- IUCN: Critically Endangered since 2000; CITES Appendix II; Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Population fell 99.7% in 1993-2002 due to diclofenac, an NSAID given to cattle, which led to kidney failure and visceral gout.
- Ecological role: scavenger that strips carcasses quickly and destroys anthrax, rabies and TB bacteria with strong stomach acid.
- About 6,000 birds were estimated in 2017; smallest Gyps vulture, feeds only on carrion, monogamous, one chick a year.
Breeding centres
- Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore: set up September 2001 near Bir Shikargah Sanctuary; named after the Ramayana’s vulture Jatayu.
- Other centres: Rajabhatkhawa (Buxa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal), Rani near Guwahati (Assam, 2008), and Kerwa, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh, 2014).
- The four centres hold about 740 vultures in 2026, of which about 110 have been released.
SAVE programme
- SAVE: Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction, launched 2011.
- Goal: restore at least 40% (about 16 million) of the lost white-backed, long-billed and slender-billed populations.
- Plan: eight breeding centres in India; partners include BNHS, RSPB, BirdLife International and ZSL.
Exam angle
- Species: white-rumped vulture, Gyps bengalensis, Critically Endangered.
- Cause of decline: diclofenac poisoning.
- Related terms: JCBC Pinjore, SAVE, Schedule I, radio telemetry.