India: In a first, vulture rewilded after five years of captive care

A Cinereous vulture is a giant bird found in parts of Asia and Europe, known to live in large groups andcapable of high-altitude flight for very long distances. What if one such bird is forced to be lonely and confined to a cage, owing to circumstances. That was exactly the plight of a vulture that was found in India's southernmost district Kanyakumari, back in 2017. The bird was found in an injured condition at a time when thesouthern peninsular India was being battered by Cyclone 'Ockhi'. The then juvenile vulture is said to have lost its way and sustained injury, thus necessitating captive treatment.

Over the last five years, the bird has been under the care of the Udhayagiri Zoo and was being treated by the forest department officials of Tamil Nadu. With the bird having fully recuperated and understood to be capable of living in the wild, the officials led by Supriya Sahu, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment & Forests, Tamil Nadu took measures to re-wild the bird, by taking steps to rehabilitate it to its natural ways.

Considering the requirements and existing natural habitats of the Cinereous vultures in India, it was chosen that the bird could be rehabilitated in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, nearly 2,600kms away from Kanyakumari. Jodhpur offered a unique advantage of supporting a considerable population of this species, given how the city had dumping grounds where cattle carcasses were disposed, thus offering food for scavengers. With the nod from the relevant authorities in Rajasthan, it was decided to transport the bird.

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However, moving by road or rail would have meant up to five days of travel and caused considerable stress to the bird. Hence, the bird was moved from Kanyakumari to Chennai via road, a distance of 600 kms. Thereafter, the bird was cared for at the zoo in Chennai and then taken on an Indian Airlines aircraft to Jodhpur, via Delhi. In all, the bird travelled a distance of 2,600 kms, this week, as part of the rehabilitation efforts.

In Jodhpur, the bird would be cared for at a local zoo and its acclimatization to the conditions there would be monitored closely. Very soon, the bird would be released into the wild and can join its feathered friends and family. As a matter of precaution and to study the efficacy of the re-wilding effort, forest officials would be tagging the bird to locate its whereabouts and keep a close watch on its health.

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