The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change marked International Vulture Awareness Day 2026 with a national workshop in Panchkula, Haryana. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the event, which brought together forest officials, scientists, veterinarians and conservation workers to discuss vulture conservation strategies. The workshop theme was “From Crisis to Recovery – Conserving India’s Vultures”.
What the workshop covered
India is home to nine vulture species: White-rumped, Long-billed, Slender-billed, Red-headed, Egyptian, Himalayan Griffon, Eurasian Griffon, Cinereous and Bearded Vultures. The Minister highlighted that vulture populations in India have sharply declined since the 1990s, primarily due to disruption in their food chain and the use of animal painkillers that poison vultures when they consume treated carcasses.
The Minister called for three key actions: creation of Vulture Safe Zones, development of technical capacity for species recovery, and promotion of safe carcass-management practices among veterinary professionals, livestock owners and local communities.
The Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore, a collaboration between the Haryana Forest Department and the Bombay Natural History Society, is central to India’s breeding efforts. During 2025–26, the Centre housed 356 vultures and successfully bred 35 chicks. It released or contributed 87 vultures for reintroduction into the wild, transferred 90 birds to other institutions, and trained 1,222 participants from 22 institutions.
A book titled “Story of Jatayu: Saving India’s Vulture” was released at the event, documenting India’s vulture conservation journey. The workshop also held prize distributions for online drawing and digital photography competitions on vulture conservation.
What this means for you
Vultures play a critical ecological role by rapidly consuming animal carcasses, which prevents disease spread and maintains environmental balance. If you own livestock or work in veterinary practice, the government is asking you to adopt safe carcass-management practices and avoid using painkillers harmful to vultures. Supporting vulture conservation helps protect India’s natural cleaning system and maintain ecosystem health in your region.