Guwahati: Ten captive-bred vultures took flight in Kaziranga on Friday, marking a significant step towards restoring the threatened scavengers in the wild.The forest department and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) released five critically endangered slender-billed vultures and five white-rumped vultures from the Jatayu Soft Release Centre at Tewaripal in Biswanath Wildlife Division, part of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve’s sixth addition.Conservationists described it as the world’s first release of captive-bred slender-billed vultures into their natural habitat.The birds, bred under the Vulture Conservation Breeding Programme, spent three months in a specially designed aviary to acclimatise to their surroundings before being released through the “soft release” method.The forest department and BNHS have collaborated on vulture conservation since 2007 through field research, population monitoring and captive-breeding programmes aimed at restoring wild populations.Assam forest minister Jayanta Malla Barua and forest officials attended the programme.The aviary gate was opened remotely using a pulley system to minimise human disturbance. The dignitaries watched the birds’ first flight through CCTV from a nearby monitoring tower.Each vulture has been fitted with a numbered blue leg ring and a back-mounted identification tag to monitor its movement, survival and integration with wild populations.
