Release of Slender-Billed and White-Rumped Vultures in Kaziranga

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Conservationists achieved a world-first milestone by releasing five captive-bred Slender-billed vultures and five White-rumped vultures into the wild.
The team used the scientific Soft Release method in the Biswanath Wildlife Division of Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

This bird is an Old World scavenger belonging to the Accipitridae family.
Earlier, experts considered it a subspecies of the Indian Vulture named the Long-billed Vulture, but today it is classified as a distinct species across South Asia and Southeast Asia.
It prefers savannas, dry open lands, dry deciduous forests, and river valleys at lower elevations.
It avoids crowded human towns, but it occasionally visits slaughterhouses and garbage dumps to find food.
Its natural population lives in sub-Himalayan regions across India (mainly Assam), Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
The IUCN Red List classifies the Slender-billed vulture as Critically Endangered.
This medium-to-large scavenger measures 77-103 cm in length and has a wingspan of 196-258 cm.
It features an unfeathered, narrow, long black head and a skinny black neck, which gives it a messy look.
Its sharp, shiny, slender bill helps it feed deep inside animal carcasses.
Dark brown, light brown, and beige feathers cover its body, while cream-colored feathers on its legs show clearly during flight.

This bird is the smallest among all Gyps vulture species native to South Asia and Southeast Asia.
In the 1980s, it was one of the most common large birds of prey in the world, but toxic veterinary drugs destroyed over 99% of its population in just 20 years.
It adapts well to open grasslands, open forests, and farmlands, and it easily lives near towns and slaughterhouse grounds.
Resident populations still survive in northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and small parts of Southeast Asia.
The IUCN Red List classifies the White-rumped vulture as Critically Endangered.
It measures 75-93 cm in length, weighs 3.5-6 kg, and has a wingspan of 1.92-2.13 meters.
It has a bright white patch on its lower back and underwing coverts, which is easy to spot when flying or stretching.
Adult birds have dark body feathers with a soft, white downy collar around the base of the neck.
It has 12 tail feathers, whereas most other Gyps vulture species have 14 tail feathers.
The species faces fatal kidney failure when eating cattle carcasses treated with banned painkiller drugs like diclofenac, aceclofenac, ketoprofen, and nimesulide.