I'm a wildlife conservationist and researcher, and Centre In-Charge of the Buxa Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre and Aviary in West Bengal. For more than fifteen years, I've worked to keep India's vultures from disappearing — breeding Critically Endangered Gyps species in captivity, releasing them, and tracking them to see whether they survive.
I came to this through my master's research on vulture populations in North Bengal, and in 2009, it took me to the Bombay Natural History Society, where I started as a biologist sampling carcasses to identify the veterinary drug that had wiped out most of South Asia's vultures. I've worked on their decline, and more recently their recovery, ever since.
Soumya Sundar Chakraborty
Vulture Specialist | Centre In-charge of Buxa Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre & Aviary
Experience
2023 – present
Centre In-Charge — Buxa VCBC & Aviary, West Bengal Forest Department
Leads the breeding and release programme and oversees captive-bred White-rumped Vultures nesting and breeding in the wild.
2013 – 2023
Centre Manager & Scientist C — BNHS
Ran the breeding centre, satellite-tagged 30-plus Gyps vultures, and advanced Vulture Safe Zone work in West Bengal — coordinating with the forest department, drug-controlling authorities, general administration, NGOs, and communities.
2009 – 2013
Research Biologist — BNHS
Field surveys across seven states for vulture monitoring and NSAID contamination assessment.
Research interests
-
Conservation breeding and reproductive demography of threatened vultures — pairing patterns, mate fidelity, and breeding success in ex-situ populations.
-
Reintroduction biology — post-release survival, movement, and wild breeding of captive-bred Gyps vultures.
-
Spatial and social ecology of colonial nesting — nest-site selection and neighbour tolerance in Gyps bengalensis
-
Veterinary NSAID surveillance and the persistent chemical threat to South Asia's vultures.
-
Vulture Safe Zones and evidence-based management for scavenger recovery.
Education
-
PhD, Wildlife Institute of India (ongoing).
-
MSc Ecology & Environment, Sikkim Manipal University.
-
BSc Bio-Science, North Bengal University.
Membership
-
IUCN SSC Vulture Specialist Group (2024 – present).