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Thirty-five Indian Vulture Nests Were Found Across Ten Sites in Western Rajasthan

Wild Indian Vulture perched in Jodbeed Gadhwala Conservation Reserve, Rajasthan
Conservation: Population & status · Research: Reproduction & development

A four-year field study of Indian vultures (Gyps indicus) in the Thar Desert recorded 35 nests across ten sites in the western Rajasthan districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer. Surveys from 2021 to 2024 combined nest monitoring with monthly counts and observations of local threats to this critically endangered species.

Nine of 14 egg-laying nests were successful

Across three breeding seasons, the researchers recorded 14 occupied nests in which eggs were laid and nine successful nests. The only egg-laying nest recorded in 2021–2022 was successful. In 2022–2023, three of five such nests succeeded (60%), and in 2023–2024 five of eight succeeded (62.5%). Breeding success was therefore similar in the latter two seasons; the 100% figure in the first season was based on a single nest.

The nests were mainly located on hills and cliffs, consistent with the species’ use of rocky nesting sites in this part of the Thar Desert. The study followed the breeding cycle from incubation through fledging as part of its assessment of local breeding ecology.

Monthly counts rose across the four survey years

The mean number of Indian vultures recorded per month increased from 35.2 in 2021 to 49.9 in 2024, with intermediate means of 40.3 and 45.2 in 2022 and 2023. The survey therefore recorded higher monthly averages in each successive year.

The authors nevertheless state that numbers in their study were lower than those reported in earlier work from the wider region. The four-year increase within this survey should therefore not be treated as evidence that the regional population has already recovered over the longer term.

Habitat loss and mining were among the local threats

The researchers identified loss of natural habitat as the most important local threat, together with mining, electrocution, human disturbance and food scarcity. They emphasise protection of nesting cliffs and surrounding low-disturbance habitat in western Rajasthan.

Sources and image credit

  1. Panchal, A. K., Saran, R. P., & Kumar, R. (2026). Population status and breeding ecology of critically endangered Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus in Barmer and Jaisalmer, India. Current Science, 130(1), 68–82. https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v130/i1/68-82Primary research article published 10 January 2026. Field surveys in Barmer and Jaisalmer during 2021–2024 recorded 35 Indian Vulture nests across ten sites. Breeding success was reported as 100%, 60% and 62.5% across three consecutive seasons, and mean monthly counts were 35.17, 40.34, 45.17 and 49.92 birds in 2021–2024, respectively.

Image: Tisha Mukherjee — Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) in Jodbeed Gadhwala Conservation Reserve, Rajasthan, India, photographed 25 November 2025; Wikimedia Commons; representative Rajasthan species image, not an individual or nest from the Barmer and Jaisalmer study · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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