Country's second vulture breeding centre at Jalpaiguri

Kolkata, Aug 21 (UNI) In the wake of sudden depletion of the Vultures in the last few years, the West Bengal government has decided to set up country's second vulture breeding centre after Pinjore in Haryana.

United Kingdom's Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB), world's one of the largest wildlife conservation organisation, would be setting up the centre on September 7 at Rajbhatkhawa in Jalpaiguri district.

British Deputy High Commissioner for Eastern India would be inaugurating the project.

The breeding centre has already been constructed in an area of two hectares with targeted capacity of 150 birds each from the three species like Long billed, slender billed and white backed, Chief Wildlife Warden S B Mondal said.

The centre would be having four basic infrastructure like Juvenile, Adult, Quarantine and Nesting chambers, Mr Mondal told UNI today.

About 20 new members of the white backed species from North Bengal and Asom has arrived in this centre, he informed.

Principal Forest Secretary A K Pattnaik told UNI ''There is an immediate need to preserve these endangered species as their total population in the country is around 10,000 which is shocking.'' Covered under schedule I of Wildlife Preservation Act, the Pinjore breeding centre has a population of 115 vultures with two enclosures with one side open towards the forest. It has been covered with jute bags to restrain them from human movement.

He also said these birds die due to renal failure after consuming poisonous carcasses, containing an anti-inflammatory banned drug Diclofenac, which was previously used to treat the cattles.

Government had now approved the use of Meloxicam instead of Diclofenac, he further added.

Mr Mondal told UNI that the birds that are brought to the centre are initially kept in the Quarantine chamber, where they are tested and treated.

After treatment they are taken to the breeding chamber, where their sexes are determined, he said it is very difficult to determine the sexes of the vultures as they do not have any morphological difference.

The birds in the captivity would be fed with treated goat and cattle meat and have magnetic rings in their legs for indentification, Mr Mondal added.

There had been a great concern among the environmentalists regarding the decline in the population of these scavengers, who not only keep the environment clean by eating dead amnimals, but also maintain a balance in the ecosystem.

The absence of Vultures had also resulted in the proliferation of rats and rabbies, said the environmentalist.

The Ornithologist also said these endangered birds start laying eggs at an age of five and lay only one egg per year. Hence it had become a herculean task to increase their depleting numbers.

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