Assam's Environment Minister released 10 captive-bred vultures into the wild at Biswanath Wildlife Division in August 2026, marking a milestone in India's vulture conservation programme. Vultures faced near-extinction due to diclofenac poisoning in livestock carcasses. India operates captive breeding centres under the Vulture Conservation Breeding Programme. The Biswanath Wildlife Division in Assam is part of the broader Indo-Gangetic and northeastern vulture recovery corridor, housing species like the White-rumped Vulture, critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Vulture populations in South Asia collapsed by over 99% between the 1990s and 2000s — one of the fastest declines of any bird species recorded. The primary cause was diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in veterinary medicine. Vultures feeding on carcasses of treated livestock suffered acute renal failure. India banned veterinary diclofenac in 2006, making it the first country to do so. Meloxicam was identified as the safe alternative.

India's Vulture Conservation Breeding Programme operates nine centres, including at Pinjore (Haryana), Rani (Assam), and Rajabhatkhawa (West Bengal). The species targeted include White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Long-billed Vulture (Gyps indicus), and Slender-billed Vulture — all listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The Biswanath release is significant because northeastern India, with its forest corridors and relatively lower livestock drug contamination, is considered a viable reintroduction habitat. Captive breeding followed by soft-release (using hack boxes or acclimatisation enclosures) is the global best practice for raptors.

The nodal ministry is the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) are the principal technical partners. Vultures are also culturally significant as nature's sanitation workers — their decline increased feral dog populations and anthrax risk from carcasses, creating public health consequences examiners have tested.