"In concept it is very simple. In practice it takes a lot of time," Watson said. "We are talking a minimum of 20 years, more like 30 years, of effort. And it's not cheap."
Estimated costs for the project run as high as one million U.S. dollars each year. Watson said that while such funding is not yet secured, conservationists have gotten the governments of India, Pakistan, and Nepal to commit to species restoration.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is working in India with the Bombay Natural History Society and the Haryana state government to expand a vulture care center in the town of Pinjore. The center is designed to look after sick and injured birds and to include a captive-breeding program.
Additional support for the expansion effort comes from the United Kingdom-based Institute of Zoology and the U.K. National Bird of Prey Trust.
Pain said three aviaries large enough to hold 20 birds of each of the three species are currently being built at the facility. Plans call for further expansions.
The United Arab Emirates' Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency has offered to host 25 breeding pairs of each species for Pakistan and Nepal for a few years, until those countries develop local facilities and expertise for captive breeding.
Recovery Possible?
According to Watson, the chances of a successful recovery for the Asian white-backed vulture and the long-billed vulture are good, assuming that captive breeding populations can be quickly established. He is more concerned about the slender-billed vulture.
"There are so few individuals left of this species that to my knowledge, no one knows if they are even breeding at this point. So chances of collecting enough birds for a successful captive-breeding effort are much reduced," he said.
According to Pain, if the international bird-conservation community works together and successfully implements a captive-breeding program, the vultures can be saved. "I don't think it will be easy, but it's certainly possible," she said.
Meanwhile, the impact of the vulture decline is already being felt throughout the subcontinent. Rotting carcasses left uneaten by vultures pose a health hazard. Such carcasses are linked to the spread of diseases such as anthrax, according to the conservationists.
Other animals, such as rats, cats, and dogs, are filling the niche once filled by vultures. Wild dog populations in particular have increased substantially, leading to an increase in the spread of rabies and physical attacks on people.
Given the proven ability to bring vultures back from brink of extinction, Watson said action must be taken: "In this day and age of rapid species extinction, it is exceedingly foolish to let a species go extinct when there's something you can do about it."
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