one of the most world's best conservation stories is being scripted at a wildlife centre in Haryana's Pinjore, where a slender billed vulture nestling a rare species, has for the first time hatched in captivity and is ready to fledge.The nestling at Pinjore is about five-month old and is ready to fledge while the nestling at Rajabhatkhawa in West Bengal has already fledges.The eggs hatched after an incubation period of 55-56 days. Two pairs had laid eggs at each of the centres but only one hatched at both the centres, said B.G. Deshmukh, President of a wildlife group, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) which is running the centres. The checks will be released in wild once they mature.Slender-billed vulture is, perhaps, the most endangered vulture in the world with less than, 1,000 birds left in the wild, prompting the BNHS to take up their breeding programme in captivity in Rani Centre near Guwahati in Assam, besides Pinjore and Rajabhatkhawa with the help of the respective State governments and the Union Environment Ministry. The species has almost disappeared from most parts of its range north of Indo-Gangetic plains from Himachal Pradesh to Assam, it is now mostly found in small numbers in Assam. Its not only Slender-billed vultues, but even the population of white backed vultures and long billed has crashed in the country, thus, causing ecologicalconcerns for they are highly efficient scavengers. Asad.R.Rahmani, Director, BNHS, said the population of white backed had declined by more than 99 percent and long billed and slender billed by over 97 percent, during the last 15 years mainly due to the consumption of carcasses of dead animals exposed to diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
The Business Line, 9th August 2009
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