Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore

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Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre
जटायु संरक्षण एवं प्रजनन केँद्र
Critically Endangered Bird Breeding Centre
Indian vulture in flight
Indian vulture in flight
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre is located in Haryana
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre
Location in Haryana, India
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre is located in India
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre
Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre (India)
Coordinates: 30°46′7″N 76°57′19″E / 30.76861°N 76.95528°E / 30.76861; 76.95528Coordinates: 30°46′7″N 76°57′19″E / 30.76861°N 76.95528°E / 30.76861; 76.95528
Country India
StateHaryana
DistrictPanchkula
Founded byFormer Chief Minister of Harayana Om Prakash Chautala
Named forJatayu
Government
 • TypeGovernment of Haryana
 • BodyForests Department, Haryana
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Websiteharyanaforest.gov.in

The Jatayu and Sparrow Conservation Breeding Centre (JCBC), (Hindi: जटायु संरक्षण एवं प्रजनन केँद्र) is the world's largest facility for the breeding and conservation of Indian vultures (गिध) and the house sparrow (Passer domesticus चिड़िया).[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 Forests Department, Haryana and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) with the help of British nature conservation charity Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).[5] It is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) away from Pinjore on Pinjor-Mallah Road.[3]

Named after the mythical vulture Jatayu from the Hindu epic Ramayana,[6] it was established in 2001 and focuses on the conservation of critically endangered species of vultures on the IUCN Red List. The Centre's research confirmed the discovery that the use of the 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.

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[edit]

Vultures[edit]

Asia's first vulture breeding facility, JCBC, named after the mythical vulture Jatayu from the Hindu epic Ramayana,[6] was established in 2001 as a joint project of the Forests Department, Haryana and the Bombay Natural History Society.[7] It covers 5 acres (2.0 ha), and its focus is the conservation, study, and breeding of critically endangered and threatened species of vultures on the IUCN Red List.[1]

Fossil records of earlier types of vultures have been found going as far back as 20 million years ago, from which the Gyps species evolved representing majority of the vultures in the Indian subcontinent,[8][9][10] which live in the nests or ledges on the high cliff faces in social groups of typically 20, 30, or even up to 100 vultures, with nests made from the wool, skin, dung and refuse.[11] Vultures are scavengers with a high tolerance for the deadly pathogen found in their primary meal of rotting animal carcasses.[12]

Out of the 40 million vultures in India in 1993,[13] 99.9% of Slender-billed vultures and 97% White-backed vultures disappeared from their primary habitat by 2007. This was due to the use of anti-inflammation drug diclofenac used to treat the cattle,[14][13] which is retained in cattle given the treatment a few days prior to their death. The drug then enters the vultures' stomach and poisons them to death.[13] Reduction of vulture numbers has led to extra carcasses, resulting in the sustainable addition of 7 million more feral dogs who inflicted 40 million more dog bites between 1993 and 2016, causing US$34 billion loss to the economy of India.[13]

The ban on the use of diclofenac in 2007–2008, combined with the success of vulture breeding of 3 critically endangered species at JCBC, led to the formation of the 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 40 million critically endangered white backed, long billed and slender billed vultures of South Asia.[14] They plan to achieve this by setting up a total of 8 vulture breeding centers (JCBC and 7 new) across India with a resident vulture population of at least 25 vultures of the three critically endangered species,[16] allowing the release into the wild of 600 of these vultures across 3000,000 square km.[15]

Sparrow Rescue and Research Centre (SRRCP)[edit]

"Sparrow Rescue and Research Centre, Pinjore (SRRCB)" in Jodhpur village: In January 2019, Govt of Haryana approved INR5,300,000 to establish two "Sparrow Rescue and Research Centre", each with 50 pairs of birds collected from the various parts of Haryana, at two bio-diversity hotspots in the state namely at Bhondsi Nature Camp in Aravalli mountain range in the south Haryana and Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre at Pinjore in Shivalik mountain range in the north Haryana, with the help of Bombay Natural History Society. Though the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified the sparrow as a least-concerned species globally, its numbers have been declining regionally, especially in Punjab and Haryana. Centres will be focused on conducting research on the causes of decline and to formulate action plans to reverse that trend. Centres will become operational from Summer 2019.

The Wildlife Department stated, "we keep and breed 25 pairs of each of the depleting species at the centre and release 100 pairs of each of the species, within ten years from the beginning of the release programme, the major reasons for decline of Sparrow was loss of their habitat due to tree felling, rampant use of pesticide ruining their food, radiation from mobile towers damaging their immune and nervous system among others".[17]

In 2021, to provide bird habitats in rapidly urbanising areas, the Haryana Wildlife Department distributed 6000 bird nest boxes, 1000 each in 6 districts of South Haryana, bird houses to be given to panchayats, government offices, NGOs, etc. To cater for birds of small and medium sizes, the boxes are of two types - 9x9 inch and 1 ft x 1 ft. Boxes need to be placed in a way that the opening faces away from the strong winds so that hatchlings are protected. Wildlife activists demanded that the government need to take more conservation actions than just distributing bird boxes.[18]

Related vulture breeding centres[edit]

In 2014, a plan for the establishment of a following 7 new vulture breeding centres, to replicate the successful model of JCBC, was announced by the government of India, by relocating some vultures from JCBC and all vultures from 19 other zoos in India:[16]

  1. Rani Vulture Breeding Centre inside Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests at Rani in Kamrup district of Assam, established in 2008 which houses 90 vultures in December 2018.[19]
  2. Rajabhatkhawa Vulture Breeding Centre at Buxa National Park, West Bengal, houses 120 vultures in December 2018 and received a grant of INR2.5 crores.[19]
  3. Hydrabad Vulture Breeding Center at Nehru Zoological Park, Hydrabad
  4. Kerwa Vulture Breeding Center at Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal.[20]
  5. Junagadh Vulture Breeding Center at Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden, Junagadh
  6. Ranchi Vulture Breeding Center at Crocodile Breeding Centre, Muta, Ranchi
  7. Bhubaneswar Vulture Breeding Center at Nandankanan Zoological Park, Bhubaneswar

Vulture conservation at JCBC[edit]

JCBC Research on Vultures and Diclofenac[edit]

The JCBC undertook research on vultures, their habitat, the causes of their declining numbers, and uses this 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 gone down significantly, but it still remains a declining 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.”

— Jemima Parry-Jones, Director, International Centre for Birds of Prey, United Kingdom[19]

Species at JCBC[edit]

JCBC houses the following four species, three critically endangered (CR) species and one threatened species for breeding and conservation at the centre:[6][14]

  • Critically Endangered species
    • Indian vulture, scientific name: Gyps indicus, formerly known as the long-billed vulture.
    • Slender-billed vultures, scientific name: Gyps tenuirostris, formerly called long billed vultures, 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

Conservation and Breeding Activities[edit]

JCBC is world's largest facility in terms of numbers of vultures,[1] hosting an ever increasing 250 vultures in 2017[6] growing annually at a rate of more than 17% per year.[6][1]

In 2007, the Aviculture (breeding) at JCBC was started in the on-site vulture hatchery.[6] In 2016, 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 in 2017.[6]

Starting from 2007, JCBC has successfully accelerated the breeding count by doubling of the number of these otherwise "slow to breed" vulture species, by mastering the artificial incubation technique.[6] As a result of the successful breeding program, the number of vultures at JCBC rose by 17% within a year, from 214 vultures in year 2016[1] to 250 vultures in year 2017.[6] JCBC has successfully released the captured and rehabilitated as well as captivity bred vultures back into the wild life after proper acclimatization and preparation.[6][1] There is a 10 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 in that year).[1] In 2016, Asia's first[21] ever vulture release program commenced on the World Environment Day, with the release of two Himalayan Griffons, that were released with the wing tags[20] (brightly coloured plastic tags for the field observation through binoculars) and ring tags[21] (brightly coloured elastic tags with conspicuous letters and numbers markings used by the field biologists to identify individual birds without recapture) but without the satellite-based tracking device.[6] These two vultures were brought in 2005 to lay eggs for breeding, and were eventually released in the wild in 2016, but could not be tracked due to the lack of satellite tracker.[6] These releases, according to Dr. Vibhu Prakash, the principle scientist, "gave us confidence to carry out future releases.”[22] In 2016, 15 vultures, 10 Slender-billed and 5 White-rumped. were sent from JCBC to Kerwa Vulture Breeding Center located inside the Van Vihar National Park at Bhopal.[20]

In 2017, out of 250 vultures, 90 were caught for breeding and 160 have been bred in captivity in the natural setting of Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary, which makes it easy to rehabilitate the vultures in a phased manner in wild-like natural conditions for their eventual release.[6] Since 2017, JCBC started to use the Satellite tracking system by purchasing the tracking units from British catalogue retailer Argos at the cost of INR 5 lakh each, after obtaining the allocation of radio frequency and security clearance from the Department of Telecommunications of the Indian Ministry of Communications.[6] Vultures are acclimatized with the dummy tags prior to the release.[6] Each satellite tracking unit, tagged under the wings with the lightweight sturdy teflon string, relays each vulture's latitude and longitude four times a day during the 3 year life span of the tracking unit.[6] Upon release, if the tracking location remains static for a day, it is indicative of some problem, which is then investigated by a ground team of humans to physically locate and investigate the vulture.[6] In 2017, eight vultures were released with satellite trackers for the first time. These vultures included the White-rumped vulture and two other vultures brought from the wild at the beginning of the breeding program in 2007 for the purpose of breeding.[6]

In 2018, JCBC received a grant of INR3.5 crores for the conservation of vultures from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.[19]

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.[22]

Gallery[edit]

  • Indian vulture

    Indian vulture

  • Indian vulture chased by Black Kite

    Indian vulture chased by Black Kite

  • Courtship between two Indian vultures

    Courtship between two Indian vultures

References[edit]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Environment Day: 2 Himalayan Griffon vultures released from breeding centre, Hindustan Times, 5 June 2016
  2. ↑ Two sparrow research centres to come up in Haryana, Indian Express, 10 Jan 2019.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Haryana Forest Department". Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Forests Department, Haryana
  5. ↑ Flight of Highly Endangered Vultures Grounded by Red Tape; TheQuint.com; Published: 8-May-2017
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 Pinjore’s vultures on a wing and a prayer for survival, Vivek Gupta, Hindustan Times, 17 June 2017
  7. ↑ "Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore". Forests Department, Haryana. 19 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  8. ↑ [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.]
  9. ↑ [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.]
  10. ↑ [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.]
  11. ↑ [Ferguson-Lees, James, and David A. Christie. Raptors of the World. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001.]
  12. ↑ [Amadon, Dean. ‘Foreword.’ Vulture Biology and Management. Ed. Sanford R. Wilbur and Jerome A. Jackson. Berkeley: U of California P, 1983. ix-xi.]
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 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
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Saving Asia's Vultures from brink, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 SAVE partners, www.save-vultures.org
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Vultures to be bred at 8 more centres, 3 March 2014
  17. ↑ Haryana to set up rescue, research centre for Sparrow in Pinjore, Daily Pioneer, 4 November 2019.
  18. ↑ To give homes to sparrows and mynahs Haryana plans 6000 nest boxes in 6-districts, Times of India, 19 July 201.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Haryana may host 6-nation vulture meet next Nov., Times of India, 21 Dec 2018.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 15 new vulture pairs brought to Bhopal conservation centre from Pinjore, Aditi Gyanesh, The Times of India, 6 Oct 2016
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Asia's first vulture re-introduction programme launched in Haryana, Manjeet Sehgal, India Today, 3 June 2016
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Vasudeva, Vikas (11 September 2021). "8 critically-endangered Oriental white-backed vultures fly towards survival from Haryana". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 November 2021.

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