At Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Maharashtra, a long wait ended on a sweet note when vultures previously released into the wild returned to guide their friends, captive-bred birds, helping them learn their first lessons in survival including taking their maiden flight in the wild.
The Maharashtra Forest Department, in collaboration with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), has been working to release the captive bred vultures in the wild. These vultures were brought from Pinjore in Haryana on April 24, 2025, and trained them to feed on carcasses. The vultures were then housed in the pre-release aviary, specially constructed in Pench for releasing them in the wild.
The aviary helped them to acclaimatise to local environmental conditions. December 11 (Thursday) marked an important milestone in vulture conservation with the initiation of a soft release of critically endangered vultures under the ongoing Vulture recovery programme. PTR and BNHS had earlier released 10 Long billed Vultures in August 2024. Two birds from this released lot, have been spotted in PTR of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The 14 birds released on the day were exclusively vultures. Kishor Rithe, Director of BNHS, said, “The Wild vultures were also observed soaring and perching around the aviary during the release, further indicating habitat suitability and reinforcing the effectiveness of the release strategy.”
