City zoo to bring 5 pairs of vultures soon

BHUBANESWAR: Nandankanan Zoological Park would bring five pairs of white-backed vultures from the vulture breeding centre in Assam in consultation with the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) of India, sources in the zoo said.

Authorities of the zoo have made arrangements and would send a special team of zoo officials to bring the vultures from Assam after the southwest monsoon is active in the State.

Notably, number of the white-backed vultures in the State came down drastically after the 1999 super cyclone. Except a few places, these birds have not been sighted in the State. 

In order to raise their numbers, the Nandankanan authorities had opened a vulture breeding centre at the Botanical Garden premises of the zoo in 2008. But the breeding activity could not be started till now as the zoo authorities had failed to get a pair of these species.

Finally, after the CZA’s initiative, the Nandankanan authorities have now arranged five-pairs of vultures (five male and five female) from the vulture breeding centre in Assam. 

According to a senior zoo official, raising the number of vulture is a lengthy process as a female vulture lays only one egg in a year. A female vulture generally attains reproductive status in five to six years which continues up to 25 years, he added.

“Since the vultures to be brought soon are five to six years old, it would be easier for us to raise their numbers at our breeding centre,” the official said.