<p>Mumbai: In a significant boost to the Jatayu conservation programme, two Indian vultures released in the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/maharashtra">Maharashtra</a>’s Amravati district have been spotted near <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bhopal">Bhopal</a> in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/madhya-pradesh">Madhya Pradesh</a> after covering a flight distance of over 1,000 km.</p><p>Fifteen vultures were released in the MTR in January 2026 under the overall supervision of Dr Kishor Rithe, Director of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).</p><p>The vultures were translocated from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre to the Somthana Range of Melghat Tiger Reserve on April 23, 2025. On December 19, 2025, all the birds were fitted with GSM and satellite tags to help scientists monitor their movement and survival in the wild.</p>.Kaziranga releases first captive-bred slender-billed vultures in historic conservation push.<p>The soft-release process began on January 2, 2026, when the aviary gates were opened remotely and food was placed outside the enclosure to encourage the birds to emerge naturally. The birds were finally released into the wild on January 6, 2026.</p><p>“Two of the MTR vultures, X64 and X98, were spotted near Bhopal,” Rithe told <em>DH</em> on Sunday.</p><p>According to conservationists, the two birds were located around 50 km aerial distance from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre. Their successful long-distance movement is being seen as an encouraging sign for the survival and adaptation of captive-bred vultures released into the wild.</p><p>The BNHS and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) jointly manage four Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres across India in partnership with state governments — at Pinjore in Haryana (2001), Rajabhatkhawa in West Bengal (2005), Rani near Guwahati in Assam (2007), and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh (2011).</p><p>India’s Gyps vulture species — the white-rumped vulture, Indian vulture and slender-billed vulture — witnessed a catastrophic decline across the Indian subcontinent during the mid-1990s, largely due to the veterinary use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which proved fatal to vultures feeding on cattle carcasses. Conservation breeding and reintroduction programmes were later launched to revive the critically endangered species.</p>
<p>Mumbai: In a significant boost to the Jatayu conservation programme, two Indian vultures released in the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/maharashtra">Maharashtra</a>’s Amravati district have been spotted near <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bhopal">Bhopal</a> in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/madhya-pradesh">Madhya Pradesh</a> after covering a flight distance of over 1,000 km.</p><p>Fifteen vultures were released in the MTR in January 2026 under the overall supervision of Dr Kishor Rithe, Director of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).</p><p>The vultures were translocated from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre to the Somthana Range of Melghat Tiger Reserve on April 23, 2025. On December 19, 2025, all the birds were fitted with GSM and satellite tags to help scientists monitor their movement and survival in the wild.</p>.Kaziranga releases first captive-bred slender-billed vultures in historic conservation push.<p>The soft-release process began on January 2, 2026, when the aviary gates were opened remotely and food was placed outside the enclosure to encourage the birds to emerge naturally. The birds were finally released into the wild on January 6, 2026.</p><p>“Two of the MTR vultures, X64 and X98, were spotted near Bhopal,” Rithe told <em>DH</em> on Sunday.</p><p>According to conservationists, the two birds were located around 50 km aerial distance from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre. Their successful long-distance movement is being seen as an encouraging sign for the survival and adaptation of captive-bred vultures released into the wild.</p><p>The BNHS and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) jointly manage four Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres across India in partnership with state governments — at Pinjore in Haryana (2001), Rajabhatkhawa in West Bengal (2005), Rani near Guwahati in Assam (2007), and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh (2011).</p><p>India’s Gyps vulture species — the white-rumped vulture, Indian vulture and slender-billed vulture — witnessed a catastrophic decline across the Indian subcontinent during the mid-1990s, largely due to the veterinary use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which proved fatal to vultures feeding on cattle carcasses. Conservation breeding and reintroduction programmes were later launched to revive the critically endangered species.</p>