Capture of vultures - Central Zoo Authority

The brooder room should have a long g
working top at a convenient height 3’ and
depth 2½’ to keep the hatchers and the
brooder boxes
The top should be smooth, strong and
stable
The wall above the working top should be
tiled up to 3’ at least
The flooring of the room should be tiled or
marbled but no carpets or curtains
There should be no cabinets in the room as
it is difficult to keep them clean
Provision for a sink with running hot and
cold water should be made
Brooder room

Egg handling
Many factors influence hatchability once the egg is laid and before
incubation begins
Microbial contamination of the shell may occur from feces, nest material or
human hands
Cracking, g breaking, g shaking gor vibrating gcan cause egg gg mortality y
Egg should be handled with utmost care
The egg should be numbered with a blunt pencil at the nest itself. It could
be the nest no. or an individual code
Th h ldb ll tdh dld id dk ti th i bt i
The egg should be collected, handled, carried and kept in the incubator in
the same position as it was found in the nest and handled with the greatest
care

Eggs are candled once, after
removing from the nest and then
on every sixth day
The Lyon High High-Intensity Intensity Zoo Model
Candler(Lyon Electric) are found to
be good for vulture egg incubation
The high intensity beam is very
effective in lighting up the contents
of the egg but the bright light is very
hot. Eggs should not be held against
the light for more than a few seconds
at a time
Candling

A large chunk of the shell peeled off
after 12 hours

Chick rested for the next 12 hours after
hatching

Was fd fed minced i dgoat meat soaked kd
in normal saline

Temperature in the brooder box was maintained
at 36°C initially and then reduced by a degree
daily till 21°C 21 C

A week old. The second coat of downs
develop develop. Has better coordination of
the neck

Chick moved to Nursery aviary on 25th Chick moved to Nursery aviary on 25
day of hatching

100 days old nestlings‐almost full grown

Five months old fledglings in
holding aviary with full crop

Lay out Planning
and Infrastructure Requirement q of
Centre
Vibhu Prakash
Principal Scientist
BNHS

Distribution of White-backed
vulture

Consideration for Aviary Design
• Size of the bird. Minimum twice the size
• Weight and strength of the bird
• Habits of the bird
• Duration in captivity
• Safety of the bird and the keepers
• Purpose of keeping birds in captivity
• Management of birds

Gyps Species of Vultures
• MMedium di tto hhuge size i
• Weighs 3-7 kg.
• Obligate Scavengers,
• Long-lived, g Reach Maturity y at 4-6 years y
• Gregarious: live in flock
• Colonial feeders
• Colonial or semi-colonial nesters
• Nest on trees or cliff or house tops (not too
specific in site selection)

Proposed Time Table for the
Conservation Breeding
• CCapture t of f birds bi d iincluding l di nestlings tli dduring i next t
one year. They will form the founder population.
60 birds of each species species.
• First breeding in captivity is expected only from
the year two thousand and sixteen -2016 2016
• First release is expected only in the year two
thousand and eighteen –2018 2018
• Hundred pairs will be released by the year two
thousand and twenty eight –2028 2028
• So it is a minimum of 20 years programme.

Structure of Aviaries
• The basic structure of all the
aviaries is similar but the sizes are
different based on purposes.
• The flooring g of all the aviaries will
be six inches layer of sand which
is a good absorbent and is easy to
clean
• All the aviaries have at least one
wall solid which has the entrance
door.
• All the aviaries open into a gallery
which gives it a double door
protection which prevents the
birds from accidentally escaping
out
• Perches are placed jutting out
horizontally from the wall, as a
stump on the ground or between
the two walls

Quarantine Aviary
• Birds brought to the centre will be first kept
in these aviaries
• Th The aviary i should h ld bbe at t lleast t 5 kkm
away
from the centre
• Th The aviary i should h ld bbe iin a cool, l calm l place l
and away from the people

Aviary Design
• The success of the entire breeding
programme p g depends p on the design g of the
aviaries.
• Utmost care and planning is required in
the site selection and providing
infrastructure.

Condition of the water troughs and the aviary; and
necessity of cleaning.
1. Quality of water in the trough.
22. Whether the trough is full with clean water water.
3. Presence of algal growth on the water trough surface.
4. Whether the water trough has accumulated sand from the
ffeet toffth the vultures. lt
5. Presence of leftover carcasses in the trough, pulled by
vultures during feeding.
6. Accumulation of decaying leaves in the trough.

Observing vulture behavior through CCTV camera

Vultures are obligate scavengers which feed only on dead
ungulates.
Hence only mammalian meat is given. Avoiding avian meat
also reduces the chances of transmission of avian diseases.
Goat meat is preferred as to that of cow and buffalo.
1. The quality of goat meat is better with lower fat content as
compared to larger cattle cattle.
2. Retention time of diclofenac is 3 days in goat as compared to at
least 7 days for cow and buffalo. Hence much safer for vultures.
33. Easier to get for a sustained amount of time as compared to cow
and buffalo, which are considered sacred in a significant part of
India. It is, however, more expensive.

Water troughs are always emptied and filled from
outside. This minimizes human and vulture interaction.
The water troughs are connected with inlet and outlet
pipes of diameter of 00.55 inches inches. The outlet pipe is at the
southern side of the aviary while the inlet pipe is at the
northern end.
Water tank supplying water to the aviaries is located
further north to the aviaries. As the centre is on a land
sloping from north to south south, water flows by gravity gravity.
The water troughs are filled/ emptied simply by opening
the respective taps for each trough. The soiled water from
the aviaries runs to a soak away pit located south to the
aviaries.

Caps should not be worn during cleaning of the aviaries, as vultures
tendd to get nervous at thesightof h i h f caps.
All the briefing about the work to be done and grouping the people
for different tasks should be done outside the aviary. Conversations
can bbe carried i d out iin normalltone. LLoudd conversations i are not
recommended.
Once inside the aviary, the workers should carry out their work at
normall speed,and d d avoid id jjerky k orsudden dd movements.
At no point of time should the workers look up in the direction of
where the vultures are sitting. Vultures always sit away from humans
at levels above human height. Looking directly at them will make
them nervous.

A cleaned and painted water trough

Carried out to reduce the build up of microbial load by
exposure of lower layers of sand to the sun.
Layering with fresh sand further increases hygienic conditions.
6 inches of the top layer of sand is removed and replaced with
fresh sand.
The sand is carried in solid baskets by the workers and thrown
tto th the grounddbby ttwisting i ti th the bbasket, k t suchhth that t th the sanddfforms aflatlayerontheground.
The sand used as filling material on concrete ledges especially
used by Long-billed vultures is also replaced with fresh layer of
sand.

The task of removing the wooden cots must be completed
within the first day itself.
After removal, the coconut ropes must be removed with the
helpp of a sickle and the iron wires should be cut with the helpp
of pliers. The netlon mesh will come off as soon as the wires
are removed.
The cots should then be sprayed with F10 solution containing 1
mL F10 in 500 mL water. F10 is a veterinary disinfectant
imported from UK. If it is not available locally, a 1 in 200
dilution of Pursue Pursue, a disinfectant from Amway can also be
used. If that is also not available, a 1 in 100 dilution of Savlon
can be used. However, Dettol should be avoided as some
organisms i hhave ddeveloped l dresistance it tto it it.

Adult White-backed Vulture
• The adult feather are
broad and rounded
• Th They are uniform if
unstreaked.
• Dark shaft prominent

White-backed Vulture (Juvenile)
• Little contrast between
dark brown remiges and
wing coverts.
• Pointed secondries from
regular serrated trailing
•
edges g to the wings g
It is smaller sized and with
less conspicuously long
deeply slotted fingers

Distribution of Long Long-billed billed
Vulture

Indian Long-billed Long billed Vulture
(Juvenile)
• Darker Lesser and Median
coverts, , Mantle and
Scapulars with prominent
pale streak
• Lack of broad pale tips to
median and Greater
coverts
• Sli Slightly htl darker d k and d more
distinctly pale streaked
underside
• Ruff is browner with
longer, more lanceolate
and less fluffy y
feathers

Over all dark plumage, streaking
inconspicuous, bill dark,
underside paler p with bold
streaking
Over all Pale, heavily streaked,
Neck with thick white down, , ruff with longg
Fluffy feathers. Rump and upper back
pale

Slender-bill Vulture
• Very long slender head
and beak hardly thicker
than neck
• Beak, cere and neck very
black and naked
• Streaky and sullied
looking dirty whitish ruff
• The bill dark with pale
culmen on the top edge
• Head and neck lack
feathering and the skin
look black

Himalayan Griffon (Juvenile)

Sample processing
• The labeled tube should be immediately taken to the laboratory and
should be ideally processed within 2 hours.
• The initial processing involves dipping the swab in an enrichment
medium. An enrichment medium supports the growth of all the
organisms present, and hence whatever is present in the culture
grows in the medium.
• After this, a 0.1 mL of the culture is plated onto a non-selective solid
medium in a petri plate, e.g. nutrient agar, blood agar, which
supports the growth of all the organisms.
• Plating is done with the help of a non-reactive metal wire loop
attached to a 6 inch long metal/ plastic handle. The loop can be
sterilized by incineration i.e. by holding the loop over a flame till it
becomes red hot.
• Plating follows a specific streaking pattern onto the solid medium.
The streaking is such that the culture gets diluted with every zone. In
between every zone, the loop is flame sterilized.

On the basis of morphology
• All the bacteria are classified as followingg on the basis of their
morphology:
1. Cocci
• Appear under the microscope (1000 x magnification)
as small dots.
• Different arrangements depending on species.
• E.g. Staphylococcus aureus
2. Bacilli
• Appear under the microscope (1000 x magnification)
as elongated rods.
• Mostly single but in some species occur in chain
arrangement.
• E.g. Bacillus subtilis

Limitations
• The procedure p of complete p identification of abacterium
up to species level is a long and tedious process,
involving intensive laboratory work.
• AAn array off iinstruments, t t reagents t andd chemicals h i l are
required to grow and identify the bacteria, which
becomes very expensive.
• The work requires skilled personnel and many
precautions need to be taken to prevent contamination of
pure cultures with other bacteria bacteria, which will need to
wrong interpretations.

Sending samples
• Cloacal, choanal and fecal swabs from healthy vultures can be sent
to the centre for identification of the bacteria present.
• The swabs should be sterile and should be collected cleanly, taking
care to not touch any surrounding areas as it will lead to picking up
of wrong bacteria.
• After collection, the swabs should be immediately transferred to a
sterile tube. It is highly recommended that the tube should contain a
small amount of semi solid transport media to maintain the viability
of all the organisms during transport.
• The tube should be labeled with details like vulture ring number,
species, date of collection and site of collection. It is extremely
important to label the samples accurately to avoid wrong
interpretation.

Transport media
• Helps in maintaining viability of
organisms during transport, and
hence bacteria can withstand the
•
duration of transport.
MMost off the h bbacteria i stay stable bl iin the h
transport media for 3-7 days.
• Amies transport media with charcoal
from HiMedia laboratories (pre
dispensed in sterile plastic tubes with
a sterile swab) is recommended. This
medium is usuallyy made available b
within 2 weeks of the placement of
order and costs around Rs. 25 apiece.
• The media should be stored according
to the manufacturer’s instructions. Representation of transport media in
sterile tube with swab

Slight difference in weights of male and female
is of no significance
• Average weight of female White-backed vulture (10
Individuals): 5.34 kg
• AAverage weightof i h f male l Whi White-backed b k d
vulture (10 Individuals): 5.05 kg
• But this data is not significant to differentiate male
and female as few male vultures may weigh more
than 55.5 5 kg and few females may weigh 55.0 0 kg kg.

Collaborative work with IVRI
• Total samples processed processed.
25 vulture postmortem samples.
17
live vulture samples.
Molecular sexing of 7 live vulture samples.

Sample Collection and Preparation
• Most preferred p samples: p Blood and Feathers.
Difficulties in sample collection and processing:
• Bl Bloodd sample l collection, ll ti iinvolves l ttrained i d personnell tto
handle the bird and to draw the blood.
• Feathers: shaded feathers are good g source of genomic g
DNA. But getting shaded feathers from specific vulture
is very difficult in a colony aviary.
• Processing Processing, labeling and storing the collected samples
is of prime importance, if neglected then the sample is
useless.

Ulnar Veins (These are the wing
veins present near the elbow joint on
both the wings, they are very delicate
and requires high expertise while
drawing the blood, sometimes there
is a risk of hematoma formation)
Blood Collection
Metatarsus veins (These are the
Leg veins seen on the metatarsus
region, sometimes very difficult to
spot, but safer as compared to ulnar
veins for drawing blood)

Processing after blood collection
The syringe in which the blood is collected

Processing after blood collection
Carefully remove the needle from
the Syringe y g

Processing after blood collection
Very slowly put the blood
in the EDTA Vacutainer

Feather Collection
• If a single bird is kept in a aviary then using its
shaded feather can be done.
• No feather collection should be done from the
aviary where a number of birds are housed.
• Th Thecollected ll d ffeather h should h ld bbe ddry
• Collected feather can be stored at room
temperature in a sealed polythene bag.

Processing after feather collection
The distal end of the feather is of our interest

Processing after feather collection
Cut the distal end of the feather with a clean pair of scissors

On-site On site observation
3 times in a day. day
Morning Afternoon Evening
• Biologist and/or the vulture keeper keeper.

Restraining the suspected vulture
• For restraining the vulture, vulture capture net should
be used used.
• Two persons should enter the colony aviary and should
approach the sick vulture vulture, a normal healthy vulture will
run away as soon as it sees a human approaching it, but
a sick vulture will sit down, making the catch up easy.
• The captured vulture should be shifted into a box and
should be immediately transferred to the hospital
aviary. i
Important note: This exercise must be done as quick as
possible to minimize the disturbance to the other vultures.

Precautions: while restraining
• Handler should be very
gentle while catch up and
should make sure that
further
avoided.
injuries are
• At th the sametime ti hhandler dl
should not allow the
vulture to escape or injure
the persons involved in
catch up.
Restrained vulture

Vulture clinical examination
• Hematology Hematology.
• Fecal sample analysis.
• Blood l dbi biochemistry. h i
• Microbiology (if infection suspected).

Sites of blood collection
Ulnar Veins (These are the wing
veins present near the elbow joint on
both the wings, they are very delicate
and requires high expertise while
drawing the blood, sometimes there
is a risk of hematoma formation)
Metatarsus veins (These are the
Leg veins seen on the metatarsus
region, sometimes very difficult to
spot, but safer as compared to ulnar
veins for drawing blood)

Blood collection
• Blood collection should be done by a veterinarian or
under his/ her supervision.
• 3 persons p are required q for handlingg the vulture and
collecting the blood.
• Before collection two persons p should restrain the
vulture using the vulture capture net.
• One person should hold the vulture, the second
person should hold the leg or the wing depending on
the choice of blood collection site. And also should
press th thevein i upstream t tto th the bl bloodd collection ll ti site.
it

Blood collection
• The remaining blood should be transferred to the
microfuge tube.
• This blood should be allowed to clot at room
temperature and serum should be separated by
centrifugation of the blood at 10,000 RPM for 10
minutes .
• The separated serum should be collected in another
microfuge tube and should be senttoapathology
laboratory for routine blood biochemistry. (details are
provided in the subsequent slides) slides).

Hemoglobin
• Hemoglobin is the iron-containing iron containing oxygen
transport metalloprotein in the red-blood cells.
• Significance: Detection of anemia.
• Anemia: Is the condition when the oxygen
carrying capacity of the blood is reduced to
low levels. One of the causes is low level of
hemoglobin. g
• If anemia is detected, treatment should be
accordingly gyggiven.

Fecal wet mount

Fecal wet mount
Procedure:
• Place a drop of Lugol’s iodine (1%) on a clean
slide.
• Add about 2 mg of feces and mix.
• Cover with cover cover-slip slip and examine under low
magnification.
• The same method can be performed using
physiological
sensitive.
saline (NS) but it is less

Standard guidelines for postmortem
• After recordingg the bodyy
contition prior to
postmortem, start with the
postmortem by first putting
the carcass on a plastic shit
and then sprinkling diluted
F10 (1:500) or persue or
normal water onto the
carcass, , so that the feathers
don’t interfere during the
dissection.
Diluted F10 sprinkled over the
vulture carcass

Standard guidelines for postmortem
• Record all the
morphometric
measurements.
Bd Body llength th (b (beak k tto
vent, and head to tail).
Wing span span, carpus to
wing tip length.
Beak length, breadth.
Metatarsus length and
diameter.
Wing
Span
Metatarsus
length

Equipments required during restraining
and health check
• Note pad. p
• Vulture clinical examination forms.
• Vulture moult record forms.
• Protective gear:
Masks.
Welder’s gloves.
Cap (with flap).
GGoggles. l
Aprons or different overalls.

Snake Trap Method
Trapping individual vultures at a time.
Use of long long, collapsible bamboo sticks sticks, which can be
joined together to get a long bamboo pole.
The terminal end of the pole is bifid, and glue made of
mustard oil and Ficus latex is used.
The pole is slithered along the ground to where the
vultures are foraging foraging, and stuck to the wings of an
unaware vulture.
The trapped vulture is thus unable to fly, and the
trapping team then rushes to the vulture and catches it.
After catching the vulture, the glue can be easily removed
with the help of petrol petrol, diesel or vegetable oil oil.

Identification
Important to identify each vulture at the captive
breeding centre centre.
Types of identification marks:
Wing tag
Leg ring
Microchipping
All identification marks placed before release
into the aviary aviary.

Consists of a microchip with a
unique code, which is implanted
iintramuscularly t s l l iin th the pectoral t l
region of the vulture.
The chip is read with the help of
a microchip reader reader, which
displays the unique code when
held close the pectoral region of
the vulture.
Not used for day to day
identification, but a fool-proof
method of identification.
As the chip is inside the body, it
doesnotfallofforgetdegraded.
Hence it is a permanent
identification device and stays on
the bird forever.
Microchipping
Microchip applicator
Implantation of microchip

Vulture in flight

Transport of dead
vultures to VCBC

Transport of dead vulture
Legal requirements.
Equipment required for packaging dead vulture.
Procedure of packaging dead vulture.
Labeling and transport to VCBC, Pinjore for postmortem
analysis.

Procedure of packaging dead
vulture
Take the vulture and pack it in the
first strong plastic bag. The vulture
wings should be folded close
together to make them compact and
the head should be kept close to the
chest covered by wings. This plastic
bag should then be sealed with a
strong cello-tape, ensuring that no
air is trapped inside.
Thi This step t iis repeated t d ffor th the secondd
strong plastic bag.
The entire package is then placed
inside the thermo cool box
diagonally. The remaining space in
the box should be filled up with ice
packs. Packaging g ga dead vulture in pplastic bag g
Onthelidofthebox,aplainpaperis
attached, on which the details are
written.

Physical Characteristics
Strong beak and claws
help them them to to rip rip open open a
a
carcass and devour it
within within minutes
minutes
Powerful eyes help locate
food from thousands of
of
feet while hovering over
the t tthe e t thermals e as in t the e s sky y

Vultures which feed on tough tough skin skin and
and
meat (King vulture)

Distribution of Slender Slender-billed billed
Vulture Vulture-rarest rarest vulture in India
An adult Slender billed
An adult Slender-billed
vulture

Vulture in the Eighties
Vultures in Timarpur, heart of Delhi city. There was an estimated
p , y
population of 40 million vultures in India in the early eighties and
about one lakh in Delhi city alone

The following following parameters parameters were
were
investigated for the causes of breeding
f failure il and d mortality li in i vultures l
Paucity of food
Paucity of Habitat
Chemical Contamination
Di Disease

No clue to large scale mortality
It was established that there was
No food shortage
No loss loss of of habitat
No lethal pesticide load

International Assistance
In February 2000, as a result of international assistance by the
RSPB, Dr. Andrew Cunningham, g Wildlife Pathologist, g ZSL arrived
and discussed the vulture crisis.
It became clear clear that that a good pathological pathological laboratory laboratory should should be
be
identified to carry out investigations to unravel the mystery of the
crash in vulture population.
Several labs in the country were scouted and finally Poultry
Diagnostic and Research Center (PDRC) of Venkateshwara
Hatcheries Ltd Ltd., Pune was identified identified as as a good laboratory laboratory and and the
the
formalities of collaboration were initiated.
B Based d on the h initial i i i l investigations i i i infectious i f i disease di appeared d to be b
a cause of mortality

The first functional diagnostic laboratory for vultures was
set up at the Vulture Care Centre Centre, Pinjore Pinjore, , Haryana and the
staff were trained in running the laboratory

A workshop for in-situ in situ conservation measures was
conducted by by BNHS BNHS and Haryana Haryana Forest Forest Department in
2002 to finalize vulture nesting and monitoring techniques
in various states of the country

Diclofenac coe ac acimplicated implicated pcated in vulture utuedec declines es
(Oaks et et al. 2004)
American scientists of The Peregrine
Fund Fund, USA USA, working in Pakistan Pakistan, found found a a perfect
perfect
correlation between visceral gout and diclofenac
residue es due in t the e vulture u tu e tissue t ssue (0.051- (0 05
0.643ug/gm)
Experimentally visceral gout symptoms were
reproduced in vultures by direct oral exposure of
buffalo tissues treated with diclofenac

Toxicity testing of Meloxicam
Initial toxicity testing was carried out on Gyps Gyps
africanus africanus africanus africanus in in South South Africa
Africa
Meloxicam was administered administered by oral gavage or
tissue from meloxicam dosed cattle
Found to be safe for Gyps Gyps africanus africanus
Final toxicity testing was done on Asian Gyps Gyps vulture
at VCBC, Pinjore Pinjore, Pinjore Pinjore, , India
India

The need need for Conservation
breeding gp program g
In 2008, the Indian Government took an important
decision welcomed welcomed by all by banning diclofenac from
veterinary use, sale and manufacture in the country.
However, o e e , we e recently ece ty found ou d t that at diclofenac dcoe ac formulated o uated
for humans has filtered into the veterinary sector.
If wild vultures are to persist p in India, , it is essential that
their survival is increased both rapidly and dramatically.
In addition with small population and the continuous
hi high h mortality t lit rates t suggested t d by b the th rapid id declines, d li it it is i
essential that birds are brought into conservation
breeding program as rapidly as possible possible, to ensure that
birds are available for reintroduction once the
environment is free of diclofenac diclofenac. .

Recovery Plan Workshop Workshop organized organized by by BNHS
BNHS
from 12 to 14 February 2004
The Recovery Plan was
released by Mr. S C Dhesi Dhesi, Dhesi Dhesi, ,
Commissioner and Secretary,
Forests, Government of
Haryana
The Recovery Plan was
prepared by senior officials of
MOEF, CZA and forest officers
of Haryana and other state
f forest d departments
National and international
vulture experts including
IUCN/SSG attended the
workshop

Vulture Conservation Breeding
Programme
Results of A Simple Deterministic Model
1 1. 600 600 pairs pairs of of each each of of the the three three species species will will form a
viable population
2. 25 pairs of f each of f the three species at one centre
will be able to produce a population of 100 pairs of
each of the species species p in the next fifteen years y
3. Six centres need to be set up to produce 600 pairs

Morphometrics
All important
bi biometrics t i lik like bill
bill
length and bill depth,
ttarso tarso-metatarsus,
metatarsus, t t
total body length,
wing i span, wing i
chord, length of tail
are recorded
d d

Database
Data generated is meticulously maintained
Vultures are monitored through
CCTV cameras

VCBC, Raja bhat khawa, West Bengal
Honorable Minister of Forests, West
Bengal, Mr. Ananta Roy inaugurated the
centre on 7 th September 2006
AAnte room of f walk lk in i freezer f
Colony Aviary
Hospital aviary
The centre has 80 birds, 48 White-backed, 18 Long-billed and 14 Slender-billed vultures

VCBC, Rani, Assam
Inauguration of the centre by the
Chief Minister, Mr. Tarun Gogoi
Colony Aviary
Holding/nursery aviary Interpretation centre
The centre has 42 vultures of which 27 are White-backed and 15 are Slender-billed vultures