Three critically-endangered vultures, translocated from Rajasthan to the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra's Chandrapur earlier this year as part of a conservation project, have been found dead, officials said on Thursday.

These vultures were found dead in Zeri, a core area in the TATR, on Wednesday evening, and their deaths might have been caused by infection, a senior official of the reserve said.

These three birds were part of 10 vultures that had been brought to the TATR from Rajasthan in January this year under the 'Jatayu Conservation Project' initiated by former forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. A conservation centre was set up in the reserve with the help of the Mumbai-based Bombay Natural History Society aimed at increasing the population of these scavenger birds.

These 10 white-backed vultures were kept under observation for initial three months at the centre. They were later released in Zeri area of the TATR after permission was obtained from the government, he said.

The vultures, after being kept under observation for three months, were radio-collared before their release in the forest area, he added.

During the tracking of these birds three of them were found dead in Zeri area. Their carcasses were taken to the Government Veterinary Hospital in Nagpur for a post-mortem procedure, the official said.

"The vultures might have died due to inflection, but the exact cause of their death will be known after we get the post-mortem report," he said.

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