Earlier this year, a rescued long-billed vulture was released back into its natural habitat in Nashik, a small step in protecting the population of the critically endangered species.

The Indian vulture (Gyps indicus), also called the long-billed vulture, is a bird of prey native to the Indian subcontinent. It lives in a range of habitats, from grasslands and shrublands to farmlands and urban areas, and prefers nesting in colonies.

The Indian vulture feeds on carcasses of dead animals, playing an important part in cleaning up rotting meat that could spread disease. In India, the species is found in central, south and peninsular India. It has also been recorded in south-east Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan.

Estimates suggest 12,000 individuals of the Indian vulture remain in India. Given its small population, the bird is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the highest level of legal protection from hunting, poaching or trading. The species faces an extremely high risk of extinction due to its rapid population decline, because of which International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists it as critically endangered.

In the mid-90s and early 2000s, Indian vultures, and other vulture species, were driven to near extinction after feeding on cattle carcasses containing diclofenac residues, which causes fatal kidney failure in vultures. Though India banned veterinary diclofenac in 2006, illegal use persists, and similar drugs like aceclofenac and nimesulide are still prevalently used.

The Indian vulture also faces other threats such as habitat loss, electrocution, windmill collisions, food scarcity due to industrial meat practices and water pollution.

In an earlier story that Mongabay-India published in 2025, S. Bharathidasan of the NGO Arulagam, Coimbatore, said, “Vultures are nature’s clean-up crew. Their absence forces communities to dispose of dead cattle at high cost, or worse, send carcasses to meat industries, exposing other animals and humans to contamination.”

Read more about the Indian vulture in our stories on declining vulture populations, conservation strategies, and the ecological value of vultures.

Banner image: Indian vultures in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. Image by Yann via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

India has withdrawn its proposal to host the 33rd annual climate negotiations (COP33) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2028.

The government of India has not publicly announced this decision though several media outlets have confirmed the information. Senior media persons who have accessed the letter sent to the UNFCCC on April 2, note that the letter stated India is withdrawing its bid to host the event following a “review of its commitments for 2028.” The letter didn’t offer any further details.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during COP28 in the UAE, had announced India’s intention to host the climate negotiations in 2028.

The presidency of the COP, and typically the responsibility for hosting the conference, rotates among the five United Nations regional groups — the African Group, the Asia-Pacific Group, the Eastern Europe Group, the Latin American and Caribbean Group, and the Western European and Others Group.

After Brazil hosts COP30 in 2025, Australia and Türkiye, both members of the Western European and Others Group, will jointly host COP31. Ethiopia, representing the African Group, is scheduled to host COP32. These events lead up to the Asia-Pacific Group’s opportunity to host COP33, and India had proposed to host the event.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, it was understood that India would host the climate negotiations for the first time in more than 25 years. India last hosted COP8 in New Delhi in 2002.

In July 2025, BRICS nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, had “welcomed” India’s bid to host COP33. Reports also suggested that the country had moved ahead with setting up a COP33 cell to address professional and logistical requirements.

India’s withdrawal from the proposal comes days after it released its new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2031–35, with updated targets to reduce emissions intensity, expand clean energy capacity, and increase forest cover. The Union Cabinet approved the targets on March 25.

In its new NDCs, India has committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 47% from 2005 levels by 2035, achieving 60% of cumulative installed electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources, and creating an additional carbon sink of 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent through forest and tree cover.

With India withdrawing its interest in hosting COP33, the Asia-Pacific Group may now look at other countries, including South Korea, which has previously shown interest in hosting the climate negotiations.

Banner image: A high-level ministerial dialogue on climate finance at COP29. Image by Mike Muzurakis via IISD/ENB.

Dugongs (Dugong dugon), commonly called “sea cows”, are marine mammals found in shallow coastal waters. They are the only surviving species of the family Dugongidae, with all other relatives now extinct.

Dugongs are herbivorous animals and graze exclusively on seagrass. In doing so, they help keep these underwater seagrass meadows, healthy. This in turn supports several other marine life and enhances carbon sequestration.

In India, dugongs are typically found in Marine Protected Areas, a designated section of the ocean where human activity is restricted. These include Tamil Nadu’s Dugong Conservation Reserve and Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park (MNP); the Rani Jhansi MNP and Mahatma Gandhi MNP in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; and the Gulf of Kutch MNP, Gujarat. Globally, dugongs roam the coasts of 37 Indo-Pacific countries, from East Africa to Australia.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the dugong is listed as vulnerable due to population declines driven by human activities. The estimated global population is 100,000, though regional numbers vary widely. In India, around 270 are estimated in Tamil Nadu, with limited data for other regions. With this small population, dugongs receive the highest level of legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Yet, these gentle swimmers face multiple threats to their lives, mainly because the seagrass habitat they depend on to survive is being lost to coastal developments and trawling, pollution, illegal hunting, fishing net entanglement, boat strikes, and heavy metal bioaccumulation. Their long lifespan, going up to 70 years or more, and slow reproduction make population recovery especially difficult.

In an earlier story that Mongabay-India published in 2025, Elrika D’souza, Scientist (Ocean and Coasts) at Nature Conservation Foundation, said, “There is more work that needs to be done to eliminate localised threats in the form of entanglement, overfishing and rare cases of illegal poaching to the dugongs in Indian territorial waters, where the marine mammals cling to their last pockets of precarious existence.”

Read more about the dugong in our stories on heavy metal contamination, community-led conservation, and the need for cross-border conservation efforts.

Banner image: Image by Vardhanjp via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Gujarat welcomed its first great Indian bustard chick after a decade of experimentation, the Union Environment Ministry announced on March 28. Programmes to revive the dwindling population of the great Indian bustard (GIB) have raced against time, particularly in Gujarat where three lone female birds were left in the wild.

Birthing the chick in Kachchh was made possible through what the government has called a “jumpstart approach” to conservation: a captive, incubated egg from Rajasthan’s GIB conservation breeding centre was transported over 770 kilometres to Gujarat, where it was nested by a female GIB in the wild.

The female had laid an infertile egg in August 2025, in the absence of a male counterpart. The infertile egg which was replaced by the incubated egg on March 22, and hatched on March 26.

The attempt was successful after several years of negotiations between both states. Transporting the egg made way for a halt-free corridor between Sam in Rajasthan and Naliya in Gujarat. In a press release, the government said the effort was a year in the making, and included guidance from the Wildlife Institute of India, apart from coordination between the state wildlife authorities and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

Minister Bhupendra Yadav congratulated all the scientists involved in the conservation experiment. “We are keeping our fingers crossed for the survival of the chick. At the same time we remain committed to leaving no stone unturned to make the endeavour successful,” he wrote in a post on X.

There are fewer than 150 GIBs left in the wild, the vast majority of which are located in the Thar desert in Rajasthan. The Bustard Recovery Programme, launched in 2016 employs a range of activities to boost the GIB population, including artificial insemination of eggs, conservation breeding, and planned release into the wild.

There are now 73 birds in conservation breeding centres, with five new chicks born this season. However, threats to the GIB’s wild populations abound, particularly overhead power lines, collisions with which are responsible for killing an estimated 18 birds per year.

Banner image: Representative image of a great Indian bustard. Image by Shiv’s fotografia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time.

Last month, 53 gharials were released into the river at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, as part of the state’s efforts to conserve the species. Previously, captive-bred gharial juveniles have been released into Ganga and Chambal rivers, to restore its historic range and strengthen wild populations.

The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a reptile found primarily in deep, fast-flowing rivers. It is known for its slender snout containing sensory cells that help detect vibrations in water, an adaptation for catching fish.

Gharials play a crucial role in keeping the river ecosystem healthy and conserving its biodiversity. In India, the species is typically found in the Chambal, Girwa, Son, and Ganga river systems, while outside India, it is also found in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Globally, the gharial population has declined by more than 94% since the 1950s, placing the species in the critically endangered category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. A survey, conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India, between November 2020 and March 2023, recorded 3,037 gharials across the Ganga river basin, with the most numbers in Chambal.

In India, the species is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. However, it faces pressures such as sand mining and hunting. Intense river modification, unsustainable fishing practices, and human disturbance continue to threaten its long-term survival in the wild.

In a story that Mongabay-India published in January 2026, Tarun Nair, a member of the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group, said, “One disease outbreak or major infrastructure project could threaten most of the [gharial] species.”

Read more about the gharial in our stories on how rising temperatures could change the species’ future and why its conservation efforts should extend to unprotected rivers.

Banner image: A gharial and its offspring on the Chambal river. Image by Goodfriend19 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Jammu and Kashmir’s hangul population registered a slight increase in the latest census in 2025, which recorded 323 individuals. An encouraging rise from 289 in 2023, hope is renewed for the survival of this species found only in the Kashmir Valley.

The hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu), also known as the Kashmir stag, is a subspecies of the Central Asian red deer. It was once widespread in the mountains of Kashmir, parts of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh and Pakistan. Today, the hangul is largely found only in Kashmir’s Dachigam National Park and adjoining landscapes.

Hangul are recognised by their branched antlers and thick brown coats, well-suited to the cold winters. They migrate between higher and lower altitudes, shedding and growing a fresh set of antlers each year. Their return to lower valleys signals the rutting season, when males display their antlers and lock horns with rival males in a fight for mates.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species, the hangul is listed as critically endangered, denoting an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. The hangul has the highest level of protection under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and is also protected under the J&K Wildlife Protection Act, 1978. The species has declined sharply over the decades due to multiple pressures. Livestock grazing in Dachigam encroaches on hangul habitat and reduces food availability, while poaching for meat, skin and antlers is also a threat. Populations are also affected by a skewed sex ratio, with significantly more females than males.

While the 2025 census shows an increase, conservationists caution that the population remains small and vulnerable. In an earlier story that Mongabay-India published in 2022, scientist Khursheed Ahmad, heading the department of wildlife sciences at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences, said, “There is a female-biased sex ratio – we have more females than males – which is not healthy. We also have a very low recruitment (addition of new fawns) in the population of hangul. These are the main ecological reasons why the population of hangul is not stabilising for the last two or three decades.”

In fact, 19 years of monitoring and a population viability analysis by conservationists concluded, in 2023, that the hangul population could potentially go extinct without interventions like monitoring calf survival and controlling free-ranging dog populations.

Read more about conservation efforts to help hangul population grow and threats faced by Dachigam National Park.

Banner image: A herd of hangul. Image by Tahir Shawl via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).