Tracking Himalayan Vulture Migration

November 18, 2020

We are proud to announce that Himalayan Nature is the first organization in Nepal to track numerous species of raptors to understand their movement. In December 2019 we deployed satellite transmitters in 3 juveniles of Himalayan Vulture during migration. All the individuals were captures at the southern border of Annapurna Conservation Areas at raptor migration watch site. These individuals were named as Raju Sanjib and Sabin. In last winter Raju wintered in the hilly region of far western Nepal and North of Nainital India, Sanjib wintered in Rupandehi district and Pokhara valley of Nepal (mostly around vulture restaurant) and Sabin wintered in the vicinity of Panna National Park in Madhya Pradesh India. In the early summer 2020 (last of April and May) all the individuals crossed the high Himalayas of Northern Nepal (over 7500 m asl) and arrived in China. After few weeks of entering in China, the transmitter deployed in Raju stopped working, however, we continually received very good data from rest of individuals. These birds spent the entire summer in China. On October 30, Sabin started to migrate south and entered in Nepal on 8th November 2020 crossing Phurbi Chyachu Mountain (6631 m.) in Rashuwa district, flew through the foothills of Annapurna and reached Garpan of Surkhet district, Karnali province and again moved to eastwards and on 16th November this bird arrived in Pokhara valley. Another bird Sanjib started southbound migration on 7th October 2020. During the migration, this bird used several stopover sites mostly on flatter areas and crossed Chura Kang mountain (6500 m.) of Bhutan. After reaching Bhutan Sanjib spent a few days in Jigme Dorje National Park in northwestern Bhutan and flew west towards Nepal. On 18th November 2020 (approximately 11 am), Sanjib entered into Nepal through the eastern part of mount Makalu.

Let's hope these birds will successfully reach the wintering ground.           

Hv_migration2(3).jpg