Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre | |
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Critically Endangered Bird Breeding Centre | |
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Website | haryanaforest |
The Jatayu and Sparrow Conservation Breeding Centre (JCBC), is the world's largest facility for the breeding and conservation of Indian vultures and the house sparrow (Passer domesticus).[1] It is located within the Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary in the town of Pinjore in the State of Haryana, India.[2][3][4] It is run by the Haryana Forests Department and Bombay Natural History Society with the help of British nature conservation charity Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.[5] It is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Pinjore[3] and covers 5 acres (2.0 ha).
Named after the mythical vulture
Although the house sparrow is of least concern globally, its numbers in India have been declining, especially in Punjab and Haryana. JCBC is conducting research on the causes of decline to formulate plans to reverse it.
History
Vultures
Fossil records of vultures have been found going as far back as 20 million years ago, from which the Gyps species evolved. This genus represents the majority of the vultures in the Indian subcontinent.[8][9][10] They nest on high cliff faces in social groups of typically 20, 30, or even up to 100 vultures, with nests made from wool, skin, dung and refuse.[11] Vultures are scavengers with a high tolerance for the pathogens found in their primary meal of rotting animal carcasses.[12]
Out of the 40 million vultures in India in 1993,
The ban on the use of diclofenac in 2007–2008, combined with the success of vulture breeding of the three critically endangered species at JCBC, led to the formation of Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) in 2011 as a consortium of 14 partner organizations and 14 Indian government agencies,[15] with a goal of restoring at least 40% (16 million) of the vanished white backed, long-billed and slender-billed vultures of South Asia.[14] They plan to achieve this by setting up a total of eight vulture breeding centers (JCBC and seven more) across India, each with a resident vulture population of at least 25 vultures of the three species,[16] allowing the release into the wild of 600 of these vultures across 3,000,000 square km.[15]
Sparrow Rescue and Research Centre
In January 2019, the government of Haryana approved INR5,300,000 to establish, with the help of the Bombay Natural History Society, two Sparrow Rescue and Research Centres, each with 50 pairs of birds collected from various parts of Haryana. These centres were to be located at two sites:
In 2021, to provide bird habitats in rapidly urbanising areas, the Haryana Wildlife Department distributed 6000 bird nest boxes, 1000 each in six districts of South Haryana. The bird houses were given to panchayats, government offices, non-profit organization, and others. To cater to birds of small and medium sizes, the boxes were of two types: 9 × 9 inch and 1 × 1 ft. Wildlife activists, however, demanded that the government take more conservation actions than just distributing bird boxes.[17]
Related vulture breeding centres
In 2014, the government of India announced a plan to bring the number of vulture breeding centres to eight to replicate the successful model of JCBC, relocating some vultures from JCBC and all vultures from 19 zoos in India:[16]
- Rani Vulture Breeding Centre inside Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests at Rani in the Kamrup district of Assam; it was established in 2008 and housed 90 vultures as of December 2018.[18]
- Rajabhatkhawa Vulture Breeding Centre at Buxa National Park, West Bengal; it housed 120 vultures as of December 2018 and received a grant of INR2.5 crore.[18]
- Hydrabad Vulture Breeding Center at Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad
- Kerwa Vulture Breeding Center at Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal.[19]
- Junagadh Vulture Breeding Center at Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden, Junagadh
- Ranchi Vulture Breeding Center at Crocodile Breeding Centre, Muta, Ranchi
- Bhubaneswar Vulture Breeding Center at Nandankanan Zoological Park, Bhubaneswar
Vulture conservation at JCBC
JCBC research on vultures and diclofenac
The JCBC undertook research on vultures, their habitat, and the causes of their decline, and uses the resulting data for vulture advocacy. The centre's research confirmed the discovery that the use of anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in cattle was a critical factor in the decline of vulture populations.[6] The Government of India banned the veterinary use of the drug in 2007–2008 as a result of research done at the centre; since then the use of diclofenac has diminished significantly, but it still remains a threat.[6]
"40 million vultures died in [the] last 20 years ... India should also prioritize vulture conservation as these birds are rarer than tigers. As many as 70 vultures consume a cow carcass in just half an hour which otherwise can rot, infecting domestic animals, pollut[ing] water and increas[ing] the number of stray dogs. So, if these valuable species [go] extinct, we will be held guilty for their disappearance.”
Species at JCBC
JCBC houses the following four species, three
- Critically endangered species
- Indian vulture, scientific name Gyps indicus, formerly known as the long-billed vulture.
- Slender-billed vulture, scientific name Gyps tenuirostris, formerly classified under the long-billed vulture; 97% have been wiped out by diclofenac.[14]
- White-rumped vulture, scientific name Gyps bengalensis, formerly known as the oriental white-backed vulture; 99.9% have been wiped out by diclofenac.[14]
- Threatened species
- Himalayan vulture, scientific name Gyps himalayensis.
Conservation and breeding activities
JCBC is world's largest facility in terms of numbers of vultures,[1] hosting an ever increasing 250 vultures in 2017[6] and growing annually at a rate of more than 17% per year.[6][1]
In 2007, aviculture at JCBC was started in the on-site vulture hatchery.[6] In 2016, the release in the wild program commenced for the first time in Asia.[1] In 2017, Asia's first satellite tracking of the released vultures started at JCBC.[6]
Starting in 2007, JCBC has successfully accelerated the breeding rate by doubling of the number of these otherwise slow to breed vulture species through the use of artificial incubation.[6] As a result of the successful breeding program, the number of vultures at JCBC rose by 17% in one year, from 214 vultures in 2016[1] to 250 vultures in 2017.[6] JCBC has successfully released captured and rehabilitated as well as captive-bred vultures back into the wild after proper acclimatization and preparation.[6][1] There is a ten-year plan to release 100 vultures from 2016 to 2026.[6]
In 2016, out of 214 vultures at JCBC, 76 were Indian vultures, 29 were slender-billed vultures, 107 were white-rumped vultures and two were Himalayan vultures (these two were released that year).
In 2017, out of 250 vultures, 90 were caught for breeding and 160 have been bred in captivity in the natural setting of the Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary, which facilitates rehabilitation in a phased manner under wild-like conditions for eventual release.
In 2018, JCBC received a grant of INR3.5 crore for the conservation of vultures from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.[18]
Eight endangered white-rumped vultures were released into the wild In October 2020 and have since been reported to be adapting to their new habitat.[21]
Gallery
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Indian vulture chased by Black Kite
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Courtship between two Indian vultures
References
See also
- Morni Hills Pheasant Breeding Center
- Kalesar Elephant Rehabilitation Centre
- List of protected areas of Haryana
External links
- Conserving Asia's critically endangered vultures
- Vulture Territory Facts and Characteristics: Long Billed Griffon
- "Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction" Consortium
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Environment Day: 2 Himalayan Griffon vultures released from breeding centre, Hindustan Times, 5 June 2016
- ^ Two sparrow research centres to come up in Haryana, Indian Express, 10 Jan 2019.
- ^ a b "Haryana Forest Department". Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Forests Department, Haryana
- ^ Flight of Highly Endangered Vultures Grounded by Red Tape; TheQuint.com; Published: 8-May-2017
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Pinjore’s vultures on a wing and a prayer for survival, Vivek Gupta, Hindustan Times, 17 June 2017
- ^ "Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore". Forests Department, Haryana. 19 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ [Rich, Pat V. ‘The Fossil Record of the Vultures: A World Perspective.’ Vulture Biology and Management. Ed. Sanford R. Wilbur and Andrew L. Jackson. Berkeley: U of California P, 1983. 3-25.]
- ^ [Houston, David C., and J.E. Cooper. ‘The Digestive Tract of the Whiteback Griffon Vulture and Its Role in Disease Transmission among Wild Ungulates.’ Journal of Wildlife Diseases 11 (1975): 306-13.]
- ^ [Houston, David C. ‘The Adaptive Radiation of the Griffon Vultures.’ Vulture Biology and Management. Ed. Sanford R. Wilbur and Andrew L. Jackson. Berkeley: U of California P, 1983. 135-52.]
- ^ [Ferguson-Lees, James, and David A. Christie. Raptors of the World. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001.]
- ^ [Amadon, Dean. ‘Foreword.’ Vulture Biology and Management. Ed. Sanford R. Wilbur and Jerome A. Jackson. Berkeley: U of California P, 1983. ix-xi.]
- ^ a b c d The Value of Vultures: What’s a vulture worth? A lot more than you might think. Tony Juniper, Ensia by Institute on the Environment. 4 June 2014
- ^ a b c d e Saving Asia's Vultures from brink, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- ^ a b "Partners – Save Vultures". Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ a b Vultures to be bred at 8 more centres, 3 March 2014
- ^ To give homes to sparrows and mynahs Haryana plans 6000 nest boxes in 6-districts, Times of India, 19 July 201.
- ^ a b c d Haryana may host 6-nation vulture meet next Nov., Times of India, 21 Dec 2018.
- ^ a b c 15 new vulture pairs brought to Bhopal conservation centre from Pinjore, Aditi Gyanesh, The Times of India, 6 Oct 2016
- ^ a b Asia's first vulture re-introduction programme launched in Haryana, Manjeet Sehgal, India Today, 3 June 2016
- ^ ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 November 2021.