Lucknow, Feb 22 (UNI) With a view to conserve the almost extinct vultures and increasing their number, the Uttar Pradesh Government would set up the state's first Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre at Bhari-Vaisi village under Pharenda tehsil of Maharajganj district, a senior government official said here on Sunday.
To be developed in an area of five hectares under the Gorakhpur forest division, the centre would be developed on the pattern of the country's first vulture conservation and breeding centre set up at Pinjore in Haryana.
According to the official, the UP's centre would be set up jointly by the Wildlife Research Organisation and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). The BNHS has prepared its DPR, which has been sent to seek funds under the CAMPA scheme. About 60 per cent of the survey work has been completed.
The official said that it would be the first scientific center of vultures in the state to find out which species is most threatened and the locations where these natural scavengers are thriving.
'A survey carried out in 2014 across 13 districts of the state put the population of vultures at 900,' he further said.
'The Government has decided to set up centre in Maharajganj area because over 100 vultures were been seen in Madhwaliya range of Maharajganj Forest division in August last year. Another flock of these birds had also been seen near a bovine protection centre set up by the state government,' he stated.
He further stated that very old abandoned bovines were kept in this bovine centre. Because of being very old and week, these cattle die very soon, and their corpses naturally attract vultures.
'That is why the conservation and breeding centre is being set up at Bhari-Vaisi village',he asserted.
The Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) found in India, Pakistan and Nepal has been listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since 2002, as the population severely dwindled.
To protect this scavenger the Uttar Pradesh Government had earlier proposed setting up of Vulture restaurant. The proposal was mooted in 2016 but failed to get ago ahead from the the then Akhilesh Yadav Government.
UNI MB JTS 1146