Wed Sep 03 07:57:12 UTC 2025: **Summary:**
An Assam-based foundation, We Foundation India, in collaboration with Gauhati University’s Department of Zoology, has launched “The Vulture Network,” India’s first online portal dedicated to vulture conservation. The cloud-based platform aims to disseminate information, compile scientific data, and provide outreach materials, particularly in local languages like Assamese, to connect conservationists, researchers, and the public. The launch addressed threats like carcass poisoning, harmful veterinary drugs, and negative social perceptions, highlighting the critical status of species like the slender-billed vulture. The initiative encourages citizen science involvement and collaborative efforts from organizations like the Assam Bird Monitoring Network.
**News Article:**
**India’s First Vulture Conservation Portal Launched in Assam**
**GUWAHATI, September 3, 2025** – In a landmark effort to combat the alarming decline of vulture populations, We Foundation India, an Assam-based organization, has unveiled “The Vulture Network,” the nation’s first dedicated online portal for vulture conservation. Launched in collaboration with Gauhati University’s Department of Zoology on Tuesday, September 2nd, the portal aims to create a comprehensive network of individuals and organizations working to protect these vital scavenger birds.
The event, timed ahead of International Vulture Awareness Day, brought together conservationists, researchers, scientists, academicians, and students to discuss the critical status of vultures in India and strategize on necessary conservation measures.
“The Vulture Network is a cloud-based portal designed to serve as a comprehensive knowledge and awareness platform on vultures of India,” explained Dr. Nilutpal Mahanta of We Foundation India. “It was developed to compile scientific information, spread awareness, and provide freely downloadable outreach materials for anyone interested in conducting awareness campaigns.”
A key focus of the portal is the dissemination of information in local languages, beginning with Assamese, to ensure that grassroots communities understand the crucial link between vulture survival and their own lives and local economies.
Partners in The Vulture Network include the Assam Bird Monitoring Network, LASA Foundation, Suraksha Samitee, and various individual researchers and conservationists. The launch highlighted the ongoing threats to vultures, including carcass poisoning, harmful veterinary drugs such as diclofenac, and negative social perceptions, which are driving their population decline. Special emphasis was placed on the endangered slender-billed vulture, with only an estimated 800 mature individuals remaining.
Rupam Bhaduri from the Assam Bird Monitoring Network emphasized the importance of integrating citizen science into vulture conservation efforts, encouraging public participation in monitoring and data collection.
Dignitaries attending the launch included Deputy Conservator of Forest Rohini Ballav Saikia and Assam State Biodiversity Board scientific officer Oinam Sunanda Devi, highlighting the government’s support for this crucial conservation initiative. “The Vulture Network” can be accessed at [http://www.thevulturenetwork.org](http://www.thevulturenetwork.org).
First Piper 