Asia’s vultures make a remarkable conservation comeback

Asia’s threatened vultures are recovering in Nepal after 20 years of coordinated conservation efforts, showing how sustained action can restore wildlife and protect ecosystems.

“The declaration of the Vulture Safe Zone and the recovery of wild populations show what can be achieved when governments, conservation organisations and local communities work together,” said Chris Bowden, Vulture Programme Manager at SAVE (Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction).

The recovery follows the ban on the veterinary drug diclofenac, which had caused catastrophic declines in vulture populations across South Asia by poisoning birds that fed on treated livestock carcasses. Nepal declared the world’s first fully verified Vulture Safe Zone in 2021 after surveys found veterinary diclofenac had been eliminated from the area, while GPS tracking confirmed high survival rates and wild populations began to rebound. In 2023, the final captive-bred vultures were released in Nepal as growing wild numbers reduced the need for breeding programmes, and a second Vulture Safe Zone is now being developed. Similar initiatives are also expanding in India, demonstrating how long-term collaboration is helping secure the future of one of the world’s most important scavenger species.