The record
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- The Bombay Natural History Society says captive-bred vultures reintroduced into Maharashtra's Melghat and Pench tiger reserves are showing high survival rates, with 29 birds released between December 2025 and January 2026 achieving survival rates of up to 78 per cent.
- The sites are described as India's most successful vulture reintroduction locations so far, following a strategy shift toward prey-rich tiger habitats where villages have been resettled.
- India's vulture breeding programme has completed 25 years, bred over 800 birds of three species, and released around 134 birds since 2020 with several state governments.
- Some released vultures have travelled thousands of kilometres across central India, and wild vulture nesting success in Pench's East Pench range rose from 89 per cent in 2024 to 100 per cent in 2025.
What to watch next
- Continued survival and dispersal of the satellite-tagged vultures, including birds X67 and X65, across central India.
- Progress of efforts with the Maharashtra Forest Department to curb veterinary use of toxic NSAIDs that threaten vultures.
- Results of future releases compared with the 2024-26 outcomes as BNHS refines its release strategy.
Who said what1
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Kishor Rithe
1 quote · 1 outlet
“This shows that the vulture pre-release aviaries established in Melghat and Pench Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra are the most successful ones so far”
In the article
…Reserve, recording a 78 per cent survival rate over nine months. Similarly, they released 15 long-billed vultures in January 2026 in Melghat Tiger Reserve and recorded a 60 per cent survival rate in eight months. “ This shows that the vulture pre-release aviaries established in Melghat and Pench Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra are the most successful ones so far ,” said Kishor Rithe, Director, BNHS. As the vulture reintroduction programme is comparatively new, BNHS teams are experimenting to gain more knowledge, and compared to previous releases in 2023-24, the teams saw better…
Coverage1
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Named India · Melghat Tiger Reserve · Pench Tiger Reserve · Bombay Natural History Society · Central Zoo Authority · Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre · Kishor Rithe · Maharashtra Forest Department · Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
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