Chandigarh: Vibhu, a 55-day-old vulture chick has become the world's first to survive that long after being born to vultures, who nested in captivity, in Pinjore in Haryana, state's Forest and Environment Minister Kiran Choudhry said today.

"This is the first time in history that the vultures have nested in captivity...there were four white-backed vulture nests of which one now has a 55-days old nestling. The nestling has a good growth and is expected to fledge in another 45 days," Choudhry told reporters here on the sidelines of the ongoing Budget Session of the State Assembly.

She said that this year, two species of vultures, the white-backed and the long-billed, nested at the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore, near Chandigarh. The Centre at Pinjore is a collaborative project of Haryana Forest Department and Bombay Natural History Society and is leading the vulture conservation efforts in the country.

"Four pairs of white-backed vultures and three pairs of long-billed laid eggs. All the long-billed vultures, were, however, immature (3-4 years old) and had nested for the first time, in fact, much too earlier than what has been known in the wild. In wild, they are known to nest when they are more than five years of age. All the long-billed vulture eggs, however, did not hatch. This is not unusual for young birds breeding for the first time," she said.

She said the incubation period of white-backed vulture is 55 days and the young lives in the nest for about 100 days and both parents devote equal number of time in raising the young.

Source : PTI