Promising trend of in
situ breeding of Oriental White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis in Raigad District, Maharashtra, India: conservation
implications for re-introduction of ex situ populations
Satish Pande1, Premsagar Mestri2, Prashant Deshpande3, Amol Warange4 & Anil Mahabal 5
1,3,5 Ela Foundation, C-9, Bhosale Park, Sahakarnagar-2, Pune, Maharashtra 411009,
India
2 ‘GulmohorColony’, Near Chavdar Tale, Mahad,Raigad District, Maharashtra 402301, India
4 Plot No. 50/A. Sahakarvrinda Soc., R.P. Nagar, Kothrud,
Pune, Maharashtra 411038, India
1 pande.satish@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 premsagargm@gmail.com, 3 detaman@gmail.com,5 mahabal.anil@gmail.com
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3330.4106-9 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3BCABFEC-FC4B-4135-9C61-28BE67A3DE64
Editor: Reuven Yosef, Ben Gurion University of
the Nagav, Eilat, Israel. Date of publication: 26
April 2013 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms #
o3330 | Received 10 September 2012 | Final received 17 December 2012 | Finally
accepted 29 March 2013
Citation: Pande,
S., P. Mestri, P. Deshpande,
A. Warange & A. Mahabal (2013). Promising trend of in situ breeding
of Oriental White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis in RaigadDistrict, Maharashtra, India: conservation implications for re-introduction of
ex situ populations. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(7): 4106–4109;
http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3330.4106-9
Copyright: © Pandeet al. 2013. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTTallows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Funding: The project was partly funded
by Sahyadri Mitra, Mahad and Ela Foundation, Pune.
Competing Interest: None.
Acknowledgements: We
acknowledge the assistance of Forest Department, Thane Division, particularly
Mr. Sarfaraj Khan, Up-van Sanrakshak,Roha; Suresh Salunkhe,
Range Forest Officer, Mahad; S. Rajwade,
Range Forest Officer, Mhasla and B. Gornak, Vanpal, Mhasla. We thank Kumar Pawar and
Sanjay Khatavkar for assistance.
Abstract: The population of Gypsvultures crashed at an alarming rate in India, from 85% since 1985–86 to
0% in 1997–99. There are
sporadic records of sightings, wild breeding and captive breeding of Gypsand Neophron Vultures from 2005 to 2010 from
various parts of India. We noticed
continued, uninterrupted successful nesting of Oriental White-rumped Vultures Gyps bengalensisin their natural habitats in Raigad District,
Maharashtra from 2004 to 2011. Their breeding population steadily increased from 10 pairs in
2004–2005 to 22 pairs in 2010–2011 and the nesting success steadily
increased from 30% in 2004–2005 to 70% in 2010–2011. We feel that the naturally breeding
populations are a must for successful re-introduction of the juvenile
captive-bred vultures in the wild, and both in situ and ex situ breeding of
vultures should be coordinated till the vulture population increases to an
acceptable level and stabilizes in the Indian subcontinent. Identification of natural active nest
sites is the foremost requirement for safeguarding the breeding of the Oriental
White-rumped Vultures in private land by winning
peoples’ participation.
Keywords: Captive breeding,
conservation implications, Gyps bengalensis,
in situ breeding, Oriental White-rumped Vulture,
re-introduction, wild populations.
Out of the nine species of
vultures recorded from India (Ali & Ripley 1968), the Critically Endangered
(BirdLife International 2012) Oriental White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensisand the Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus,
have declined by more than 95% throughout India (Prakashet al. 2003, 2007; Green et al. 2004; Shultz et al. 2004; Naoroji2007; Richard et al. 2011). The
causes appear to be multi-factorial such as drugs like Diclofenacand Ketoprofen, scarcity of food, habitat loss,
pesticide poisoning, and infections (Cunningham et al. 2003; Shultz et al.
2004; Poharkar et al. 2009; Pandeet al. 2011). The nesting success
of the Oriental White-rumped Vultures dropped from
82% in 1985–86 to 0% during 1997–99 in KeoladeoNational Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan (Prakash 1999). Though there are several reports of sightings of Gyps and Neophron vultures from various states in India (Iyer 2005; Pimplapure 2005; Bharos & Bharos 2010), there
are only sporadic records of the successful nesting of Gyps vultures in
their natural habitats (Devakar & Visavadia 2005; Kasambe et al.
2005; Gomathi 2006; Kamble2011). Breeding of Gypsspecies in captivity has also been reported recently (Lahkaret al. 2010). While the vulture
population crashed at an alarming rate in India, we noticed continued,
uninterrupted successful nesting of Oriental White-rumpedVultures in their natural habitats in RaigadDistrict, Maharashtra from 2004 to 2011. The breeding population of the vultures steadily increased from 10 pairs
in 2004–2005 to 22 pairs in 2010–2011. Similarly the nesting success steadily
increased from 30% in 2004–2005 to 70% in 2010–2011. We feel that the naturally breeding
populations are a must for successful re-introduction of the juvenile
captive-bred vultures in the wild, and both in situ and ex situ breeding of
vultures should be coordinated till the vulture population increases to an acceptable
level and stabilizes in the Indian subcontinent.
Methods
All observations of vultures
were made during their breeding season (October–April) and later in each
of the years from 2004 till 2011. Observations of the Oriental White-rumpedVulture were made at six independent breeding sites, at the foothills of the
northern Western Ghats, two each in Mhasala Taluka (18006’N & 73008’E), Mangao Taluka (18017’N
& 73017’E), and from the coastal region in Shriwardhan(18008’N & 73014’E) Taluka,
in Raigad District, Maharashtra. The habitat of the first two sites is
semi-evergreen type of forest while the last locality is coconut plantation
near human habitation in the coastal region. All the localities were private lands
outside protected areas. Weekly visits
were made at all the sites and observations were made about the breeding
behavior of adults, appearance of chicks in the nest and the feeding of the
chicks in the nest and during the branching period by adults. For observing the nesting success we noted
the number of young fledged from each nest in the entire study area. We also looked for nest occupation or
abandonment. For those nests that
were on the trees on the hill slopes, we made observations from a high vantage
point with the help of binoculars. For other nests on the coastal region that were on the plains, observations were made by climbing on neighboring trees. All observations were made from a
distance of about 25–40 m from the nest.
Results
We regularly observed some
vultures in the study area from 2004 to 2011. All sites of the Oriental White-rumped Vulture were about 30–40 km from each other,
encompassing an area of approximately 2025km2. In the year 2004–2005 six active
breeding sites were recorded. Subsequently in 2005–2006 onwards till 2010–2011, only three
sites remained active, one in each taluka.
The breeding season commenced
in the third week of October; Ali & Ripley (1968) mention that nesting
begins in November. In various
sites, all the nests of the Oriental White-rumpedVulture were observed only on trees in the semi-evergreen forest. Only one active nest was seen on each
tree. In one case two nests were
seen on one tree but only one was active. The vultures used nine trees species for nesting, Mango Mangifera indica,
Coconut Cocos nucifera,Arjuna Terminalia cuneata, Behada Terminalia bellirica, Devil
Tree Alstonia scholaris,Beach Mahogany Calophyllum inophyllum, False Hemp Tree Tetramelis nudiflora, Indian Tulip Tree Thespesia populnea and Fishtail Palm Caryota urens, most
located on private land. The
average height of the trees on which the nests were built was 27m (n=15; range
20–43 m). The average height of the nest from the ground was 21.2m (n=15;
range 15–35 m). However, in Anjarale, Murud and Deobag villages in coastal Maharashtra, seven breeding
pairs were observed only on Cocos nucifera (Kamble 2011).
The number of nests in our
study ranged from 11 in 2004–2005 to 25 in 2010–2011, of which, the
total active nests ranged from 10 to 22 (Table 1). Further the locality-wise nest count
during the study period is shown in Table 2. The maximum number of nests in one site,
in Mhasla Taluka in
2010–2011 was 16 nests. The
species is known to breed in colonies and also scavenges in flocks (Hume &
Oates 1889–1890). During our
observations in 2009–2010, in three nests in Mhasala Taluka, incubation was abandoned and no young fledged
and the cause was not determined. Similarly, in Mhasala Taluka,
the Changeable Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus attacked a nest of the vultures once in each
year in February 2010 and 2011, when a chick was present in the nest. This eagle nested about 200m from the
nest site of the vulture only during these two years. The plundered nest was subsequently
abandoned. Ali & Ripley (1968)
documented that this species lays only one egg per clutch (we assumed that only
one egg was laid per active nest, because we could not ascertain the contents
of the nests placed in trees at considerable heights). Nests were reused and new nests were
also built during the study period.
Our observation showed that
the eggs were laid between 18 October and the first week of December in each
year during the study period. The
exact duration of incubation and dates of hatching could not be
ascertained. However, our
observations reveal that the incubation period is at least 40 days. The chicks were first seen in the
various nests between the end of November and the fourth week of January during
the study period. The chicks
fledged during February and early April. Branching period (when the young perch outside the nest on adjacent
branches) was up to 45 days from fledging. This is probably the first record of the nestling and branching periods
for this species. Feeding of the
young by adults outside the nests, but in the same respective locality, was
observed up to two years from the time of fledging. We identified the young based on plumage
characteristics. Our observations
revealed that nesting success (percent young fledged from active nests)
increased from 30% in 2004–2005 to 69% in 2008–2009. It declined in 2009–2010 to 64%
for unknown reasons, but again increased to 70% in 2010–2011 (Table 1). The breeding population of vultures in
2004–2005 was 10 pairs and increased to 22 pairs in 2010–2011. Although some vultures were regularly
seen at the site throughout the year, there were some periods when no vulture
was seen at the site for up to three days at a stretch.
Conservation Implications
Identification of natural
active nest sites is the foremost requirement for safeguarding the breeding of
the Oriental White-rumped Vultures in the
future. Protecting such nest sites
and conserving the existing nest trees on private lands cannot be effectively
achieved without winning peoples’, participation. The vulture population throughout India
appears to be currently stabilizing with the substitution of toxic Diclofenac with Meloxicam (Richard et al. 2011). At present, successful attempts are also
being made to breed the Gyps vultures in captive breeding programs (Lahkar et al. 2010). It is vital to note that naturally breeding populations are a must for
successful re-introduction of the captive bred vultures in the wild; thereby,
captive bred populations will get an opportunity to mingle with wild
populations and learn the essentials of survival from their wild kin. Wild flocks of vultures are necessary to
ensure the effective naturalization, long term survival and genetic stability
of captive bred populations. Considering the present situation of declining vulture populations in
India, both in situ and ex situ breeding of vultures should be coordinated till
the vulture population increases to an acceptable level and stabilizes in the
Indian subcontinent. The
conservation importance of natural populations of various species of raptors is
evident by the use of such nests for the successful re-introduction of orphaned
or captive bred raptors in the wild in various parts of the world, where such
chicks have been successfully fostered in the nests of their wild breeding
counterparts (Wiemeyer 1981; Gonzalez et al. 1986; Rymon 1990 & Pande et al.
2004).
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