National Review Meeting on Conservation Breeding of Vulture Species Held | 25 Sep 2021

Recently the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) at Vulture Conservation Breeding Center (VCBC), Pinjore, Haryana along with Bombay Natural History Society organized a National Review Meeting on Conservation Breeding of Vulture Species in India.

According to a government spokesperson, Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore Coordinating Zoo and five other zoos - Nandankanan Biological Park, Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Van Vihar National Park and Zoo, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Sakkarbagh Zoo, Junagadh (Gujarat) will participate in the event, according to a government spokesperson, Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad (Telangana) and Assam State Zoo, Guwahati (Assam) are the participating zoos in the programme.
An official spokesperson said that Rajabhatkhawa (West Bengal) and VCBC, Rani (Assam) centres which have been set up in collaboration with the respective state governments also participated in the meeting.
Directors of all centres, veterinarians or biologists participated in this review meeting. During this a 'Manual for Vulture Keepers' developed by VCBC, Pinjore was released.
The meeting recommended that the Action Plan for Conservation of Vultures in India (APVC), 2020-2025, coordinate the two additional species identified for conservation – the red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophron perconopterus). Can be taken under protection breeding.
In the mid-nineties, the population of three gypsum vultures—white-backed, long-billed and slender-billed—had a sharp decline due to the use of diclofenac. The program was initiated after the CZA released the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation in 2006 to prevent their possible extinction.