BENGALURU: Long-billed vultures will have to wait longer to find a new home in Karnataka. The Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) is still awaiting approval from the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA) to open the Vulture Breeding Centre in the park.
The government had announced the breeding centre in the 2020 budget allotting `130 crore, but the plan is yet to materialise. The number of vultures has been dwindling in the state. It is categorised as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2002 because of kidney failure caused by diclofenac poisoning. In a survey conducted along the borders of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, 246 species of these endangered birds were found.
Deputy Conservator of Forests, BNP, Prabhakar Priyadarshi said, “We’ve arranged for everything and are constantly following it up.” The centre should have opened by the end of 2022, said the department. The vultures were supposed to be transported from Pinjore Vulture Conservation in Haryana, said Priyadarshi.
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) said to TNIE, “We’ve been waiting for months to hear from the CZA.”