Last Updated:December 05, 2025, 07:30 IST India began captive-breeding vultures after their numbers plummeted due to the widespread use of the cattle drug diclofenac, which had pushed the species to the brink of extinction The goal is to reintroduce these magnificent birds to the forests they once called home before they were driven to the brink of extinction. Pic/Vandan Jhaveri Assam is preparing for a historic conservation milestone—its first reintroduction of captive-born, critically endangered vultures into the wild. After raising over 800 vultures in its Conservation Breeding Centres across India, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) will release 12 of them in Assam early next year. The release from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Rani, Kamrup, is planned at two separate sites and will commence in early January, marking a major step in India’s vulture recovery efforts. “We have identified two separate locations for the release—six will be released in Kamrup and six others in Biswanath in the state. Both species—slender-billed and white-rumped vultures—are critically endangered and have been successfully bred in captivity. The …