Endangered white-backed vultures, which were bred in captivity and later released into the wild in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) of Alipurduar, have started breeding in the wild, officials of the state forest department said on Sunday.

In 2005, a conservation and captive breeding centre for vultures was set up at
Rajabhatkhawa in the BTR by the department in association with the Bombay Natural History Society and the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, UK.

It was the second such centre after Pinjore, Haryana.

“The population of different species of the vulture, a scavenger bird which plays an important role in maintaining the ecological balance, was steadily declining across the country owing to the use of an anti-inflammatory drug in cattle. That is why the initiative was taken,” said a senior official of the department.

In due course, the vultures were conserved and captive breeding of the birds started in Rajabhatkhawa. As the population of vultures increased, foresters decided to release those into the wild.

“From the centre, we have released 31 white-backed vultures into the wild during the past three years. It is an endangered species (as per the Red Data list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature). After the release, we have constantly monitored the birds’ movements through satellite data,” said Parveen Kaswan, the deputy field director (west) of the BTR.

Last November, the foresters came to know that two such vultures released into the wild built a nest in the core area of the BTR.

“An efficient monitoring protocol for the released vultures has been developed to check the birds’ movement pattern, location, nests, resting interval, area covered and other details. In January this year, it was found that a nestling was born, which is the first wild generation of the vultures bred captive at the centre,” he added.

Kaswan said it was a matter of joy that the centre, established with the aim of increasing the number of vultures in the wild, had achieved it.