Vulture Decline and Reintroduction Efforts in Vidarbha

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7 days ago
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White rumped vulture in Vidarbha — Vulture Decline and Reintroduction Efforts in Vidarbha

Once teeming with scavenging vultures, Vidarbha’s skies have fallen eerily quiet in recent decades. The region, comprising forests, rural landscapes and tiger reserves in eastern Maharashtra, has witnessed a precipitous decline in its vulture population.

These iconic birds, nature’s cleanup crew, are now on the brink of local extinction in Vidarbha, mirroring a nationwide crisis.

The decline, rooted in human actions and environmental changes, threatens not only the species’ survival but also the ecological balance and public health in the region.

Disappearing Vultures in Vidarbha

Vultures were a common sight across India through the 1980s, with an estimated 40 million soaring nationwide. Vidarbha too, from the teak forests of Melghat to village outskirts in Gadchiroli, vultures once thrived, dutifully disposing of animal carcasses. However, by the mid-1990s, their numbers had plummeted.

Over 90% of India’s vultures died off in just a decade, and by 2007, a staggering 99% of the three most common species (White-rumped, Long-billed, and Slender-billed vultures) had been wiped out.

This “Asian vulture crisis” did not spare Vidarbha. Conservationists recall that vultures went from “almost too common to count” to virtually absent within years.

By the 2000s, Vidarbha’s vulture population was in freefall. Surveys in prime habitats show how stark the collapse has been.

In Melghat and Tadoba–Andhari Tiger Reserves, areas that historically provided plentiful food and nesting sites, wild vultures have all but vanished. A recent Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) study in 2023 found no existing wild vultures in Tadoba at all.

“We had hoped that existing wild individuals could guide the captive-bred ones after their release, but this would not work out without existing wild vultures,” noted Hemant Bajpai, a BNHS biologist heading vulture reintroduction in the reserve. The absence of even a single native vulture in such protected areas underscores how complete the local extinction has become.

One of Vidarbha’s last holdouts was in Gadchiroli district, where a grassroots conservation initiative offered a brief success story.

In the early 2010s, the state forest department set up “vulture restaurants”, which were elevated platforms where villagers would place cattle carcasses, in the Sironcha forest division.

By 2015, this community-driven effort had saved a population of around 150 vultures in southern Gadchiroli. The Kamlapur range became a centre of vulture protection with villagers proudly maintaining carcass platforms for their “gidhad” (vultures).

“Interestingly, the vulture restaurants have become a matter of pride in every village where one has been erected,” reported Prabhu Nath Shukla, the local Deputy Conservator of Forests at the time. Thanks to sustained work and awareness, sightings of White-rumped and Long-billed Vultures increased, leading officials to propose declaring the area a ‘vulture safe zone’.

However, without continuous support, these gains proved fragile. In subsequent years, several of the Gadchiroli vulture restaurants were shut down. Conservationists say the closures quickly reversed the positive trend. “Closure of these restaurants has led to a decline in the vulture population in Gadchiroli,” warns Kundan Hate, a former State Wildlife Board member who watched the programme falter.

Today, Vidarbha’s wild vulture sightings are exceedingly rare outside a few remote pockets. The region’s vulture population has essentially collapsed to a critical low, mirroring the national trend of stabilisation at new bottomed-out levels.

Deadly Causes of the Decline of Vultures

Infographic showing the causes for decline of Vultures in Vidarbha — Deadly Causes of the Decline of Vultures

The primary cause of Vidarbha’s vulture crash is traced to a single veterinary drug called diclofenac. In the 1990s, this painkiller became a routine treatment for sick cattle across India.

Unbeknownst to farmers then, diclofenac is lethally toxic to vultures. When vultures feed on the carcass of a cow or buffalo treated with diclofenac just days before its death, the results are disastrous.

“Vultures that feed on the carcasses of livestock treated with [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs] a few days before their death will most likely die,” explains Dr. Kishor Rithe, BNHS Director. Research by BNHS in 2003 first linked diclofenac to widespread vulture kidney failure and mortality.

Even minute residues of the drug in an animal carcass can be fatal – as the Environment Ministry later noted, just 0.4% of contaminated carcasses were enough to decimate 99% of vultures in India.

The Government of India moved to ban veterinary diclofenac in 2006 as the scale of the crisis became clear. This intervention came just in time to prevent complete extinction – the “threat of extinction was very real” until the ban, experts say. Following the ban, Vidarbha’s vulture free-fall slowed.

By the 2010s, the death spiral had stabilised, preventing further mass die-offs. However, the damage was largely done: vultures were already gone from most of the region. Moreover, hopes of any rebound have been “dashed due to illegal use” of other toxic drugs that replaced diclofenac.

In place of diclofenac, veterinarians and livestock owners began using other anti-inflammatory drugs like aceclofenac, ketoprofen, and nimesulide, many of which also poison vultures.

Aceclofenac, for instance, metabolises into diclofenac in cattle, posing the same threat. These drugs remained legal (aceclofenac and ketoprofen were banned only in 2023) and are still obtainable over the counter.

Enforcement is patchy. Human formulations of diclofenac are sometimes misused on livestock in rural Vidarbha. The continued presence of toxic NSAIDs in the food chain is preventing any vulture comeback.

A BNHS multi-state survey in 2022 found that although vulture numbers have stopped declining, signs of recovery are “unlikely” as long as veterinary chemists illegally sell these drugs.

Conservationists point out a stark contrast in neighbouring Nepal, where diclofenac alternatives are strictly controlled, vulture populations are bouncing back, whereas India’s remain stuck at perilously low levels.

Even when safe from poisoning, Vidarbha’s surviving vultures face a landscape less hospitable than decades past. With vultures gone, carcass disposal practices have changed: villagers now often bury or burn dead cattle to prevent disease and scavengers. In forests and villages alike, fewer carcasses are left in the open. Ironically, the absence of vultures has forced this shift, and it creates a vicious cycle.

“The absence of vultures… has forced the adoption of [carcass burial]. However, the scarcity of carcasses discourages the presence of vultures,” the BNHS field team in Tadoba notes, highlighting a negative feedback loop.

The handful of reintroduced vultures have been observed wandering far afield in desperate search of food. Some of the GPS-tagged birds released in Vidarbha last year flew hundreds of kilometres away, into Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, because they struggled to find sufficient carrion locally. Two young vultures even starved to death in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh after failing to find food in unfamiliar terrain. This underscores how diminished food availability in the modern sanitised environment is now a real hazard for the species.

The vulture’s vanishing act has not only biological but public health ramifications, felt in Vidarbha and beyond.

With fewer vultures, livestock carcasses that once would be cleaned up in minutes now rot for days, attracting feral dogs and rats.

Parsi communities in Maharashtra’s cities have seen their traditional “sky burials” upended due to the lack of vultures. Disease risks have risen: studies link the vulture crash to an explosion in feral dog populations feeding on carcasses, leading to more dog bites and rabies cases.

In fact, a recent study estimated that India’s vulture die-off contributed to around 500,000 additional human deaths from increased disease transmission in the years 2000–2005. Vultures, once taken for granted, are now understood as a critical health safeguard. “Being specialised scavengers, they play a very important role in quickly disposing carcasses that could harbour millions of pathogenic bacteria and fungus… This is how they help keep India’s countryside clean,” notes an Environment Ministry report.

The collapse of Vidarbha’s vultures thus poses a silent threat to the region’s sanitation and safety, underscoring why efforts to save these birds are so crucial.

Conservation Efforts and Ongoing Challenges

Infographics on Conservation efforts in India and Vidarbha for Vultures — Conservation Efforts and Ongoing Challenges

Facing the vulture crisis, government agencies and conservation groups have launched multiple initiatives, some yielding success, others too little or too late.

The 2006 ban on diclofenac was the first major step. More recently, India’s national Vulture Action Plan 2020–25 outlined a comprehensive strategy, including tighter drug regulation and new breeding centres.

The plan calls for automatic removal of any veterinary drug found toxic to vultures and at least one ‘Vulture Safe Zone’, an area of 100 km radius kept free of vulture-toxic medication, in every state.

An estimated ₹207 crore has been allocated to vulture conservation under this plan, which also proposes establishing Maharashtra’s first state-run Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre (planned in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik) and dedicated vulture rescue centres. Maharashtra’s forest department has indeed drawn up plans for breeding centres in Nashik and Pune, though as of 2023, these remained in progress.

Enforcement, however, remains a sticking point. Curbing the illegal availability of killer drugs is an ongoing battle, and officials acknowledge that effective on-ground implementation of safe zones is still lacking.

To rebuild the population, India embarked on an ambitious captive-breeding programme in the mid-2000s. BNHS, in partnership with state governments and zoos, established Jatayu Vulture Breeding Centres in Haryana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Assam. Over 15+ years, these centres have successfully reared more than 700 vultures of four endangered species. The ultimate goal was to release these birds into the wild, but for years, reintroduction was sluggish.

“There was not much interest to release these birds, though they were raised in captivity to be released in the wild,” insiders told Times of India, citing apathy and red tape in some states. Funding shortfalls also plagued the programme. BNHS reportedly spent ₹3.5 crore from its own coffers on vulture feed when government funds were delayed.

That logjam began to break only recently. In 2023, Maharashtra sought and obtained permission to translocate 40 captive-bred vultures to Vidarbha’s reserves. “We got a green signal… to take White-backed and Long-billed vultures from the breeding centre. These birds will be released in Pench, Tadoba and Melghat to augment the existing population there,” said Maheep Gupta, the state’s Chief Wildlife Warden.

The Vidarbha reintroductions mark a milestone. In August 2023, 20 juvenile vultures (10 White-rumped, 10 Long-billed) were transported from Haryana and placed in pre-release aviaries deep inside Tadoba-Andhari and Pench Tiger Reserves.

Another batch of 14 White-rumped and 20 Long-billed vultures arrived on Earth Day in April 2025 to be soft-released in Melghat, Tadoba and Pench. Each bird underwent thorough health checks and was fitted with a GPS transmitter for post-release monitoring.

By January 2024, the first group of vultures had been fully released into the wild, the first such release in Maharashtra’s history. The initial results were mixed: the captive-born birds demonstrated strong flying ability and natural foraging instincts, but several dispersed far beyond the reserves.

Crucially, three of the released vultures died in late 2024 after leaving the safety of the core area. Their carcasses, recovered in Chandrapur district, showed signs of liver and kidney failure, raising alarm that they may have fed on an NSAID-laced carcass outside the park.

Post-mortem tests are ongoing to confirm if banned drugs were the cause. The deaths prompted urgent calls for Maharashtra to double down on creating a vulture-safe landscape.

“We need to find out the exact cause… Vultures feeding on livestock treated with these drugs will most likely die,” stressed BNHS’s Dr. Rithe, advocating immediate steps to remove toxic painkillers from cattle around release sites.

Experts agree that scientific efforts must go hand-in-hand with grassroots support. Vidarbha’s brief Gadchiroli success stands as proof that local involvement can boost vulture survival.

During that programme’s heyday, forest officials enlisted “Gidhad Mitras” (Friends of Vultures) in each village to coordinate carcass donations and spread awareness.

Schoolchildren participated in Vulture Awareness Day events, and villagers took pride in sightings of vultures circling their fields. “The sustained work… has helped increase the population of vultures in the region and their sightings,” a forest officer noted in 2015, crediting community vigilance for the positive trend.

Conservationists are now pushing to replicate and sustain these efforts. Kundan Hate, former wildlife board member, argues that reviving supplementary feeding sites is essential. “Earlier, carcasses of cattle were dumped [for vultures] in Gadchiroli. Closure of these ‘vulture restaurants’ has led to a decline… Such restaurants should be started in the buffer zones of Tadoba and Pench,” he urges.

BNHS researchers in Tadoba are indeed exploring this idea, planning a modern “vulture restaurant” where local cattle owners would deposit carcasses free of toxic drugs. This would not only feed the birds but also build trust with communities who often view vultures as beneficial.

Despite the setbacks, conservationists remain cautiously optimistic. Thanks to the ban on diclofenac, the mass die-offs have stopped, and Vidarbha’s remaining vultures have been given a fighting chance.

The challenge now is to enable a recovery. “Evidence suggests the [diclofenac] ban has been partially effective,” says Chris Bowden of the Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction programme, “but there is much more work to do”.

That work includes stricter enforcement of drug bans, providing safe food sources, continuous monitoring, and public education. Forest authorities in Maharashtra have been urged to formally declare vulture safe zones around reintroduction sites, emulating Nepal’s successful model. The government has also been asked to expedite the planned breeding centre so that the state can produce and release its own vultures in the future.

On the ground, teams from BNHS and the Forest Department are intensifying outreach, conducting workshops for field staff on vulture identification, and canvassing villages to discourage the use of harmful veterinary drugs. Such multi-pronged efforts are critical to ensure that Vidarbha’s skies do not fall permanently silent.

Engaging and determined conservation action is now the only hope for Vidarbha’s vultures.

The ongoing reintroduction of captive-bred birds is a beacon of possibility, a chance to restore a lost piece of the region’s natural heritage. Yet the fate of these magnificent scavengers will hinge on human choices of safe veterinary practices, strong enforcement, and community commitment to coexist with vultures.

In the forests of Tadoba, Pench and Melghat, one can once again spot young White-rumped and Long-billed Vultures riding thermals overhead, a sight that had vanished for years.

Whether this fragile revival takes wing or falters will depend on keeping their food free of poisons and giving the birds a safe haven to thrive.

Vidarbha’s vulture story is at a turning point: with sustained effort, the “extinction vultures” can be pulled back from the brink, allowing these vital birds to reclaim their lofty perch in the region’s ecosystem.