Most comprehensive article on Vulture in India [2023]

Vulture in India were very common till the 1980s. During this period, the populations of the three resident Gyps species (Oriental White-backed Vulture, Long-billed Vulture, Slender-billed Vulture) in the country was estimated at 40 million individuals. The overall population however crashed drastically by over 90% during the mid-nineties. By 2007,99% of the three Gyps species had been wiped out.

As of today, according to the IUCN Red Data Book, Vulture in India are categorised into the following:

vultures in India

S. No	Category	Vulture Name
1	Critically Endangered	1. Oriental White-backed Vulture 2. Long-billed Vulture 3. Slender-billed Vulture 4. Red-headed Vulture
2	Endangered	Egyptian Vulture
3	Near Threatened	1. Himalayan Vulture 2. Cinereous Vulture 3. Bearded Vulture
4	Least Concern	Eurasian Griffon

Threats to Vulture Population

Threats	Explanation
Diclofenac Contamination	Vultures feed on carcasses of dead farm animals and get exposed to the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), diclofenac which causes kidney failure and death. 99% of the mortality of Oriental. White-backed, slender-billed and long-billed vultures is due to diclofenac.
Habitat Loss	Vultures populations are declining due to habitat loss, food unavailability, and electrocution. Degradation of nesting sites due to cutting down of trees for agriculture, urbanization, and firewood, fire and grazing is a threat to vultures.
Interference due to Traffic and Other Animals	Breeding sites of vultures, especially Gyps bengalensis, are mostly located around roads. Human activities and traffic on roads pose a threat to vultures and their feeding. Interference of other animals like monkeys with vultures and their nesting is another cause of concern.
Infectious Diseases	Evidence suggests that infectious diseases are another threat to vultures. Studies of 28 carcasses of Gyps bengalensis and Gyps indicus across India showed that infectious diseases were a threat.
Low Food Availability	Dead animals are the primary source of food for vultures, but the practice of throwing carcasses in the open has almost vanished, leading to a decrease in available food.
Environmental Contaminants	Environmental contaminants such as insecticides and pesticides cause heavy mortality in vultures due to bio-magnification.

Vulture in India

Vulture Conservation in India

Details	Explanation
Conservation Breeding Programme	A conservation breeding programme for three resident Gyps species of vultures was set up in 2004 to implement the recommendation of the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2006.
Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres	Eight Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres (VCBC) have been established in the country.
VCBCs Set Up	One VCBC was set up in Pinjore, Haryana in 2004, followed by one in Rajabhatkhawa, West Bengal in 2006 and one in Rani, Assam in 2008. Five centres were set up by the Central Zoo Authority in collaboration with the State Zoos at various locations.
Latest Action Plan	The latest Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025 (APVC) is in action to save vultures.

Vulture in India

Species of Vulture in India

There are nine species of Vultures in India which are as follow.

Overview of Vultures in India

Species	Genus	Residency	Wintering
Oriental White-Rumped Vulture (OWBV)	Gyps bengalensis	Resident	N/A
Long-billed Vulture (LBV)	G. indicus	Resident	N/A
Slender-billed Vulture (SBV)	G. tenuirostris	Resident	N/A
Himalayan Vulture (HV)	Gyps himalayensis	N/A	Wintering
Eurasian Griffon (EG)	Gyps fulvus	N/A	Strictly wintering
Red-headed Vulture (RHV)	Sarcogyps calvus	Resident	N/A
Egyptian Vulture (EV)	Neophron percnopterus	Resident	Wintering (sub-species)
Bearded Vulture (BV)	Gypaetus barbatus	Resident	N/A
Cinereous Vulture (CV)	Aegypius calvus	N/A	Strictly wintering

Vulture in India

Vultures by Genus

Genus	Species
Gyps	Oriental White-backed Vulture (OWBV), Long-billed Vulture (LBV), Slender-billed Vulture (SBV), Himalayan Vulture (HV), Eurasian Griffon (EG)
Sarcogyps	Red-headed Vulture (RHV)
Neophron	Egyptian Vulture (EV)
Gypaetus	Bearded Vulture (BV)
Aegypius	Cinereous Vulture (CV)

Vulture in India

Oriental White Rumped vulture

Basic Information about White-rumped Vulture

Parameter	Description
Scientific Name	Gyps bengalensis
Native to	South and Southeast Asia
Status	Critically Endangered (since 2000)
Population	Less than 6,000 mature individuals (as of 2021)
Related Species	European Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)
Previously Known	Oriental white-backed vulture

Vulture in India

Physical Characteristics and Behaviour of White-rumped Vulture

Parameter	Description
Physical Characteristics	Medium-sized vulture with an unfeathered head and neck, very broad wings, and short tail feathers. Has a white neck ruff, whitish back, rump, and underwing coverts, black body and silvery grey secondaries. The head is tinged in pink.
Size	Weighs 3.5–7.5 kg (7.7–16.5 lb), measures 75–93 cm (30–37 in) in length, and has a wingspan of 1.92–2.6 m (6.3–8.5 ft)
Nesting	Builds nests on tall trees often near human habitations in northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and southeast Asia, laying one egg. Forms roost colonies.
Feeding	Scavenger that feeds mostly on carcasses, which it finds by soaring high in thermals and spotting other scavengers. Considered capable of finding carrion by smell. Flies and sits in flocks.
Roosting	Forms roost colonies

Vulture in India

Oriental White Rumped vulture

Weight: 3.5-6 kg.
Wingspan: 205-220 cm.
Breeding: 1 egg, in trees, incubation about 55 days, chick fledges about 4 months.
Status: Critically endangered since 2002 and is also in Schedule-I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Smallest one among all Gyps Species

Long billed Vulture

Physical Characteristics

Characteristic	Description
Distribution	Found in India and South East Pakistan
Size	92 cm
Wing span	196 to 238 cm
Weight	5.5 to 6.3 Kg
Natural habitat	Cities, towns, villages near cultivated areas and open woody areas

Breeding and Nesting

Characteristic	Description
Breeding season	November to March
Nesting	In small colonies on cliffs, nests are enormous and constructed with sticks and lined with green leaves and rubbish
Eggs	1 egg is laid, oval and white in color, sometimes lightly spotted and blotched with reddish brown. Only 50% of nest produces eggs each year
Incubation	About 50 days, both parents involved

Vulture in India

Diet and Status

Characteristic	Description
Food	Feeds mainly on carrion, putrid or fresh
Current status	Critically endangered (decline of over 97%)
Major threats	Anti-inflammatory drug “Diclofenac” used to treat domestic livestock, use banned in India but not sure if it has been completely stopped

Vulture in India

Long billed Vulture

Weight: 5.5-6kg.
Wingspan: 205-229 cm.
Breeding: 1 egg on rock ledges, incubation about 55 days, chick fledges about 4 months.
Status: Critically endangered since 2002 and is also in Schedule-I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Known for flying long distance and at very high altitude

Slender Billed Vulture

Physical Characteristics

Facts	Description
Length	80 to 95 cm (31 to 37 in)
Color	Grey with pale rump and grey undertail coverts
Thighs	Whitish down
Neck	Long, bare, skinny, and black
Head	Angular, narrow, and black
Bill	Dark, narrow, and appears narrow midway
Ear opening	Prominent and exposed

Vulture in India

Basic Information

Facts	Description
Species Name	Slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)
Native to	Sub-Himalayan regions and Southeast Asia
Status	Critically Endangered
Population	Fewer than 870 mature individuals (as of 2021)
Slender-billed vulture’s Distribution	Along the Gangetic plain north to Himachal Pradesh, south potentially to northern Odisha, and east through Assam, north and central Bangladesh, southern Nepal, Burma, and Cambodia

Vulture in India

Decline in Population and Conservation Status

Facts	Description
Population decline	97% overall decline for Slender-billed vulture and Indian vulture
Annual decline rate	16% between 2000-2007
Breeding colonies	Only breeding colony in Southeast Asia is in the Steung Treng province of Cambodia (thought to number about 50-100 birds)
Protection status	Listed on the appendix II list of CITES
Cause of decline	Use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac in working farm animals

Vulture in India

Slender Billed Vulture

Weight: 5.5-6 kg.
Wingspan: 205-229 cm.
Breeding: 1 egg, in trees, incubation about 55 days, chick fledges about 4 months.
Status: Critically endangered since 2002 and is also in Schedule-I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Himalayan Vulture

August – 2023: Conservationists have achieved India’s first ever captive breeding of Himalayan vultures at the Assam State Zoo in Guwahati. This marks only the second time globally and the first instance in India that this species has been bred in captivity.

The successful captive breeding program was a joint project between the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the Assam forest department. It represents a major milestone for the conservation of these endangered birds of prey in their native Himalayan habitat.

Identification Features of the Himalayan Vulture

Feature	Description
Feathers	Dark brown greater covert feathers, pale buff uniform upperside, pale brown or buff under-wing coverts, buffy feathers on legs
Facial skin	Pale blue, lighter than dark blue in Eurasian griffon vulture
Bill	Yellowish
Ruff	Long and pale brown, white streaks and spiky feathers
In flight	Long fingers splayed, pale patagial stripe on underwing

Vulture in India

Distribution of the Himalayan Vulture

Region	Range
Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau	1,200–5,500 m (3,900–18,000 ft)
Range	Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran to Pakistan to India, Nepal, Bhutan to western China and Mongolia
Dispersal	Juvenile birds may disperse further south, vagrants have been recorded in Thailand, Burma, Singapore and Cambodia

Vulture in India

Himalayan Vulture

Weight: 8-12 kg.
Wingspan: 260-310 cm.
Breeding: Poorly known, 1 egg, on rock ledges, incubation about 50 days, chicks may fledge 4 to 5 months.
Status: Near threatened and is also in Schedule-IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
It is one of the largest and heaviest bird found in the Himalayas

Eurasian Griffon vulture

Overview of Eurasian Griffon Vulture

Parameter	Detail
Scientific Name	Gyps fulvus
Common Name	Eurasian Griffon Vulture, Griffon Vulture
Family	Accipitridae
Similar Species	Rüppell’s griffon vulture (Gyps rueppellii), Himalayan griffon vulture (Gyps himalayensis), White-backed vulture (Gyps africanus)
Distribution	Southern Europe, North Africa, Asia
Diet	Scavenger, feed on dead animals
Life Span	Maximum recorded lifespan is 41.4 years in captivity
Breeding	Nest in cliffs, form loose colonies, lay one egg

Vulture in India

Eurasian Griffon vulture

Weight: 6-11 kg.
Wingspan: 240-280 cm.
Breeding: 1 egg, in rocks incubation about 50-58 days, chick fledges 110-130 days.
Status: Ofleast concern and is also in Schedule-IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Create growling sound at the time of eating carcass

Red Headed Vulture

Description of Red-headed Vulture

Description	Details
Size	Medium-sized vulture, 76 to 86 cm in length
Weight	3.5–6.3 kg
Wingspan	1.99–2.6 m
Head	Prominent naked head: deep-red to orange in the adult, paler red in the juvenile
Body	Black with pale grey band at the base of the flight feathers
Iris	Male: pale whitish iris, Female: dark brown

Vulture in India

Distribution and Habitat of Red-headed Vulture

Description	Details
Distribution	Primarily in northern India, ranges widely across the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia
Habitat	Open country, cultivated and semi-desert areas, deciduous forests, foothills and river valleys, altitude up to 3000m from sea level

Vulture in India

Conservation Status of Red-headed Vulture

Description	Details
Status	Critically endangered
Reason	Population collapse due to use of diclofenac in veterinary medicine, hunting, and use of poisons in hunting practices
IUCN Status	Uplisted to critically endangered in 2007
Alternative NSAIDs	Meloxicam has been found to be “vulture-safe”

Vulture in India

Red Headed Vulture

Weight: 3.6-5-4kg.
Wingspan: 218-229 cm.
Breeding: 1 egg, in tree nest, incubation about 50 days, chick fledges about 4 months.
Status: Critically endangered since 2006 and is also in Schedule-IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
Incubation of eggs is carried out by female in night and by male in day

Egyptian Vulture

Physical Characteristics of the Egyptian Vulture

Characteristic	Description
Plumage	Adult: White with black flight feathers in wings. Wild birds have rusty or brown shade due to mud or iron-rich soil. Captive birds without access to soil have clean white plumage. Juveniles: Blackish or chocolate brown with black and white patches.
Bill	Slender, long, hooked tip of the upper mandible. Black in nominate subspecies, pale or yellowish in adults of Indian subspecies.
Nostril	Elongated horizontal slit.
Neck feathers	Long and form a hackle.
Wings	Pointed with the third primary being the longest.
Tail	Wedge-shaped.
Legs	Pink in adults, grey in juveniles. Claws are long and straight, with the third and fourth toes slightly webbed at the base.
Facial skin	Yellow and unfeathered down to the throat. Males have deeper orange skin during breeding.
Sex differentiation	Indistinguishable in plumage. Females slightly larger and about 10-15% heavier.

Vulture in India

Distribution and Movements of the Egyptian Vulture

Characteristic	Description
Range	Southern Europe to northern Africa, eastern to western and southern Asia. Rare in Sri Lanka.
Habitat	Dry plains and lower hills, up to 2,000 meters in the Himalayas, 2,300 meters in Armenia.
Migration	Most birds in the subtropical zone of Europe migrate south to Africa in winter. African birds may fly further north into Europe in summer.
Nesting	Mainly on rocky cliffs, sometimes on ledges of tall buildings and large trees.
Migrating birds	Can cover up to 500 km in a day until reaching the southern edge of the Sahara. Young birds may overwinter in the Sahel.

Vulture in India

Subspecies of the Egyptian Vulture

Subspecies	Range	Bill Color
N. p. percnopterus	Southern Europe, northern Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, northwestern India.	Dark grey
N. p. ginginianus	Indian subcontinent	Pale yellow
N. p. majorensis	Eastern Canary Islands	N/A

Vulture in India

Egyptian Vulture

Weight: 1.6-2.2kg.
Wingspan: 155-170 cm.
Breeding: 1 or 2 eggs, in trees, incubation about 42-45 days, chicks fledge about 3 months.
Status: Endangered since 2006 and is also in Schedule-IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
They also feed on small animals and egg of other birds, breaking them by tossing a large pebble onto them. They use pebble as a hammer.

Bearded Vulture

Facts about the Bearded Vulture

Fact	Details
Scientific Name	Gypaetus barbatus
Other Names	Lammergeier, Ossifrage
Family	Accipitridae
Relations	Close relative of Egyptian Vulture
Diet	70-90% bone
Population	Near Threatened
Distribution	Southern Europe, East Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Tibet, Caucasus
Nesting	Lay 1-2 eggs in mid-winter, hatch at the beginning of spring

Vulture in India

Description of the Bearded Vulture

Fact	Details
Length	94-125 cm (37-49 in)
Wingspan	2.31-2.83 m (7 ft 7 in – 9 ft 3 in)
Weight	4.5-7.8 kg (9.9-17.2 lb)
Head	Small headed, powerful and thick neck
Body Shape	Elongated and slender, sometimes appearing bulkier
Color	Dark gray, rusty, and whitish in color, orange or rust on head, breast, and leg feathers
Plumage	Grey-blue to grey-black above, creamy-coloured forehead, black band across the eyes and lores
Juvenile	Dark black-brown over most of the body, with a buff-brown breast
Sound	Shrill whistles in breeding displays, falcon-like cheek-acheek call

Vulture in India

Bearded Vulture

Weight: 4.5-7.1 kg.
Wingspan: 250-2820 cm.
Breeding: 1 or 2 eggs, in caves or rock ledges, incubation 53-58 days, chicks fledge 106-130 days.
Status: Near threatened and is also in Schedule-I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Cinereous Vulture

Characteristic	Detail
Total Length	98–120 cm (39–47 in)
Wingspan	2.5–3.1 m (8 ft 2 in – 10 ft 2 in)
Average size	Average sizes not published, but median weight from two sources were 9.42 kg (20.8 lb) and 9.55 kg (21.1 lb)
Overlap in size	Males can broadly overlap in size with the females, although not uncommonly the females may be slightly heavier.
Comparison with other vultures	One of the two largest Old World vultures, with similar total length and perhaps wingspan recorded in the Himalayan vulture (Gyps himalayensis), but cinereous appears to be slightly heavier as well as slightly larger in tarsus and bill length. New World condors can either be of similar wing area and bulk or slightly larger.
Body size variation	Body size increases from west to east, with birds from southwest Europe (Spain and south France) averaging about 10% smaller than the vultures from central Asia (Manchuria, Mongolia and northern China).

Vulture in India

Plumage

Characteristic	Detail
Adults	Distinctly dark, with whole body brown except pale head covered in fine blackish down. Skin of head and neck is bluish-gray and a paler whitish color above the eye. Brown eyes, purplish cere, blue-gray bill, and pale blue-gray legs. Primary quills often black.
Distinction from other vultures	Massive bill is one of the largest of any living accipiterid, a feature enhanced by the relatively small skull of the species. Bill length: 8–9 cm (3.1–3.5 in). Only cousin, the lappet-faced vulture, with a bill length of up to about 10 cm (3.9 in), can rival or outsize the bill. Flying birds can easily appear all black.

Vulture in India

Cinereous Vulture

Weight: 7-12.5 kg.
Wingspan: 250-295001.
Breeding: 1 egg, either in trees or cliffs, incubation 54-56 days, chicks fledge 95-120 days.
Status: Near threatened and is also in Schedule-IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Heaviest and largest among all raptors

Vulture population in India

S. No.	Species	Resident/ Migratory	Conservation	Status Conservation	Estimated Population in India
1	Bearded	Resident	Near Threatened	Schedule-I	Not available
2	Cinereous	Winter visitor	Near Threatened	Schedule-IV	Not available
3	Egyptian	Resident	Endangered	Schedule-IV	Not available
4	Eurasian	Winter visitor	Least Concern	Schedule-IV	Not available
5	Himalayan	Winter/resident	Near Threatened	Schedule-IV	Not available
6	Long-billed	Resident	Critically endangered	Schedule-1	26,500
7	Red-headed	Resident	Critically endangered	Schedule-IV	Not available
8	Slender-billed	Resident	Critically endangered	Schedule-1	1,000
9	Oriental White-backed	Resident	Critically endangered	Schedule-1	6,000

Population Decline of Vulture in India

There are various reasons for the decline of vultures. However, persecution by humans and poisoning by diclofenac appear in the list of almost all decreasing populations of vultures. The threats are briefly discussed below:

Diclofenac contamination

The main cause for the decline of the vulture population is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), diclofenac. Vultures are exposed to diclofenac after feeding on the carcass of dead farm animals. It causes kidney failure in vultures and hence death. In Assam 99% of the mortality of Oriental. White-backed, slender-billed and long-billed vultures occurred due to diclofenac.

Habitat loss

The vulture populations are declining day by day due to habitat loss, food unavailability and electrocution. Cutting down trees for agriculture, urbanization and firewood purposes, a cause of habitat degradation is a threat to the nesting sites of vultures. Fire and grazing also decrease the safe roosting and nesting sites of vultures. The decrease in safer nesting sites, in turn, decreases their breeding success and increases the death rate.

Interference due to traffic and other animals

The breeding sites of vultures especially Gyps bengalensis are mostly located around the roads. Human activities and traffic on the roads is a cause of concern as vultures may feed on roads making them prone to accidents. Another cause that has been established is the interference of other animals like monkeys with vultures and their nestings.

Infectious diseases

Infectious diseases are another threat to vultures. Evidence favouring infectious disease emerged from post-mortem studies of 28 carcasses of Gyps bengalensis and Gyps indicus gathered from across India.

Low Food Availability

Dead animals are the primary source of food for different vulture species. Earlier the practice of throwing carcasses of animals in open was a dominant form of disposal but now such practice has almost vanished and dumping of the animal carcasses is preferred to prevent any disease spread. Hence a gradual decrease of available food in the form of carcasses poses a threat to vultures and hence a cause of vulture population crash.

Environmental Contaminants

It has been seen that environmental contaminants cause heavy mortality in raptor and vulture populations. Insecticides and pesticides contaminate the environment and their accumulation within the water bodies, in turn, serves as a potential contamination source. This may cause heavy losses to these birds due to bio-magnification.

Vulture Conservation in India

A conservation breeding programme for the three resident Gyps species of vultures was set up in 2004 to implement the recommendation of the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2006 (MoEF, Government of India 2006).
There are in all eight Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres (VCBC) established in the country. The first VCBC was set up in 2004 at Pinjore in Haryana by the Forest Department of Haryana and BNHS.
Subsequently, a centre was established at Rajabhatkhawa in the state of West Bengal in 2006 and another one at Rani in Assam in 2008.
Five centres were set up by the Central Zoo Authority in collaboration with the State Zoos at Van Vihar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; Nandankanan Zoo, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha; Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, Telangana; Muta Zoo, Ranchi, Jharkhand and Sakkarbagh Zoo, Junagadh, Gujarat.
Now the latest Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025 (APVC) is in action on the ground to save our vultures.

Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025

Key Features of Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025

Feature	Description
Prevent poisoning of vultures’ food	Regulate the sale of veterinary NSAIDs and ensure they are only distributed on prescription, and that treatment of livestock is done under qualified veterinarian supervision.
Safety testing of veterinary NSAIDs	Conduct safety testing on available molecules of veterinary NSAIDs to ensure they do not harm vultures.
Mechanism for removing harmful drugs	The Drugs Controller General of India must establish a mechanism to remove drugs from veterinary use if found to be harmful and toxic to vultures.
Establishment of Conservation Breeding Centres	Set up more Conservation Breeding Centres in India for breeding vultures and for vulture conservation.

Vulture in India

INTERNATIONAL ACTION PLAN OF CONSERVATION for VULTURE IN INDIA

The Multi-Species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP):

The Vulture MsAP was developed by Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) Raptors MoU and was adopted by CMS Parties at COP12, held in Manila, Philippines from October 23 to 28, 2017. The action plan covers all the nine species of vultures recorded from India.