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Great Indian Bustards released at Desert National Park
Two captive-bred male Great Indian Bustards are released into the wild for the first time at Desert National Park, near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The rewilding pilot is part of Project GIB, run by the Centre, the Wildlife Institute of India, and the governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Great Indian Bustard and Project GIB:
| Dimension | Key Details |
|---|---|
| Species and habitat | The Great Indian Bustard is a large, ground-dwelling bird found in savannahs, grasslands, and deserts. |
| Historical spread | Until the late 19th/early 20th century, the species is spread across 11 states, from Haryana to Tamil Nadu and from Rajasthan to Odisha. |
| Causes of decline | Causes of decline comprise hunting and egg poaching; conversion of open habitats into croplands and mining areas; collisions with renewable energy power lines due to poor frontal vision and a heavy body. |
| Population estimates | Population estimates comprise 1,260-1,400 birds in the early 1970s and around 150 birds today. |
| Current distribution | Of around 150 birds today, around 130 (±20) are in Rajasthan, and the rest are scattered across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. |
| Project GIB timeline | A long-term bustard and lesser florican conservation project has been launched by the Centre and Rajasthan government in 2012-13 and has been expanded from 2014 with funding for a conservation breeding programme. |
| Egg collection and incubation | From 2019, wild GIB eggs are collected from Desert National Park and nearby areas, artificially incubated at Sam and Ramdevra (Rajasthan), and hand-reared. |
| Captive breeding output | Hand-reared birds have bred at the centres, producing 98 birds so far; of these, 2 have been released, 11 are earmarked for future wild release, and the rest remain in captivity for continued breeding. |
| Rewilding definition | Rewilding provides for transitioning captive-bred birds back into natural habitats. |
| Rewilding facilities | A rewilding aviary is set up at Ramdevra Centre, and a soft-release facility developed by WII is located inside Desert National Park. |
| Release age group | Chicks aged 3-4 months are released, unlike hand-reared adult birds that are used to humans. |
| Monitoring mechanism | Released birds are fitted with transmitters that send location and movement alerts 3 times daily, and teams monitor them remotely. |
| Release site criteria | Release sites are chosen for grassland cover and freedom from human and technological interference. |
| Scaling beyond Rajasthan | Similar rewilding efforts are needed in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, but only after habitat improvement. |
| Grassland protection issue | Unlike forests, grasslands are not traditionally treated as “protected areas” in public or policy perception, making them vulnerable to land-use conversion. |
| Livelihood linkage | Grassland vulnerability affects livelihoods of pastoralists and livestock-rearing communities. |
| Expert concern | A bustard expert flags in 2008 in Hornbill magazine that forest departments, not graziers, pose the bigger threat by converting grasslands into forests through afforestation and artificial waterhole creation. |
| Supreme Court directions (priority areas) | Following a Supreme Court case, the Court accepts an expert panel’s recommendations and orders demarcation of “priority areas”: 14,013 sq km in Rajasthan and 740 sq km in Gujarat. |
| Supreme Court directions (power lines) | The Supreme Court orders undergrounding of 80 km of power lines in Rajasthan, to be completed between 2027 and 2028, and creation of “powerline corridors” to accommodate re-routed overhead lines. |
| Mining-related facts | Limestone mining threatens the open, flat terrain bustards need, the Supreme Court does not order specific anti-mining measures, and mining operations are proposed on the northern side of Desert National Park near the release site. |