An ambitious breeding-in-captivity project aims to save the endangered vulture by preventing it from feeding on carcasses rich in the killer diclofenac drug. It may be a classical case of too little too late. Deep inside Bir Shikargah, in a wildlife sanctuary spread over two sq km near Pinjore off the Chandigarh-Shimla highway that was once the hunting ground for the Patiala royalty, a flock of vultures gorge on a freshly skinned goat carcass. Except for a few haggling crows, the 114-odd vultures have no dogs to compete with inside three wildlife aviaries, each roughly the size of a tennis court. For the vultures, it's a royal feast