In February 2026, a GPS-tracked Cinereous Vulture was found dead in Rajasthan, India.
His name was Asu.
He was the first Cinereous Vulture to be tagged in Kazakhstan, in July 2024, in the Karatau Mountains within the Syrdarya-Turkestan Regional Nature Park. A young bird, he carried a satellite GPS tracker and colour-coded identification rings as part of a joint initiative led by the Central Asian Vultures Project, the Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center of Kazakhstan, and the Vulture Conservation Foundation.
What followed was, at first, a success story. That same autumn of 2024, Asu began his first migration, travelling thousands of kilometres to the Indian state of Rajasthan. He survived the journey, spent the winter there, and returned safely to Kazakhstan in the spring of 2025. Throughout the summer, he remained in the central steppe, building strength. Still immature, he did not yet breed, but his survival alone marked an important milestone: proof of a functioning migratory link between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
When winter came again in 2025, Asu set off on his second southward migration. But this time, he would not return.
In early February 2026, his GPS signal stopped moving. Instead of tracing the wide arcs of a soaring scavenger, the data began transmitting from a single, fixed point in Rajasthan. Concerned by the sudden change, Indian conservationists were alerted and travelled to the location. There, his body was found.
The exact cause of death remains unknown. However, a likely explanation could be poisoning. Across parts of South Asia, the presence of veterinary drugs in livestock carcasses is a well-documented threat to vultures and other scavenging birds. Asu became one of the casualties along a migration route that spans thousands of kilometres. Out of nine Cinereous Vultures tagged as part of this collaborative project between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, his story is a stark reminder that conservation success cannot be measured solely within national borders. Birds like Asu do not recognise political boundaries. Their survival depends on a chain of safe habitats that stretches across continents. Break one link, and the entire system fails.
His journey provided invaluable data. It confirmed that Cinereous Vultures in Central Asia depend on wintering grounds in India, while also revealing the risks that persist along these flyways. This information is essential, as it allows researchers to map movements, identify critical habitats, and pinpoint where threats are most likely to occur. This death reflects a broader reality. Migratory species can only survive if safe conditions exist across their entire route. Protecting them demands coordinated conservation acrossthe full flyway, from Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent and beyond. The Central Asian Vultures Project, founded in 2020, aims to facilitate international cooperation across the range of these species.
Data from birds like Asu does more than record movement. It highlights where dangers lie and where further investigation and action are needed. In the end, Asu’s journey connected two regions, his death a reminder of how fragile that connection remains.