Great Indian Bustard - Revision history

Jyoti: /* 2022: only four females survive in Gujarat */

2026-04-16T10:28:05Z

‎2022: only four females survive in Gujarat

Pdewan: /* Hunting */

2025-07-11T14:13:21Z

‎Hunting

Jyoti: /* Population */

2025-05-20T20:02:43Z

‎Population

Pdewan: /* Population */

2025-04-20T09:56:48Z

‎Population

Pdewan: /* Status */

2025-04-20T09:56:02Z

‎Status

Pdewan: /* Flying into Extinction */

2025-04-20T09:54:50Z

‎Flying into Extinction

Jyoti: /* Population */

2024-07-13T09:51:53Z

‎Population

Jyoti: /* 2002-2016 */

2022-07-24T12:07:25Z

‎2002-2016

Pdewan: /* Status */

2022-07-13T01:40:32Z

‎Status

Jyoti: /* Population */

2020-12-05T19:27:13Z

‎Population

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:28, 16 April 2026
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	According to a 2018 count, India has fewer than 150 GIBs, of which 122 are in Rajasthan.		According to a 2018 count, India has fewer than 150 GIBs, of which 122 are in Rajasthan.
		+
		+	==2026: chick born in wild in Gujarat==
		+	[https://epaper.indiatimes.com/article-share?article=29_03_2026_010_006_cap_TOI Himanshu Kaushik & Vimal Bhatia TNN, March 29, 2026: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	Ahmedabad\Jaisalmer: In a landmark moment for wildlife conservation, Gujarat has recorded the birth of a Great Indian Bustard (GIB) chick in the wild after nearly a decade as the egg was moved 770km from a breeding centre in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer and incubated by a foster mother.
		+	The chick hatched on March 26 in the grasslands of Gujarat’s Kutch signifying a significant breakthrough for one of India’s most endangered bird species. The moment wasn’t free of worries, though. Officials said the mother and chick could not be traced for a while, fuelling apprehensions of harm. However, they were eventually sighted.
		+
		+	Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav hailed the novel conservation initiative called Jumpstart Approach. “The effort was planned a year back, coordinated by MoEFCC (environment ministry), along with forest departments of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and Wildlife Institute of India,” Yadav posted on X.
		+
		+	The last successful breeding of the species in Gujarat was in 2016. Since then, the situation has worsened dramatically, especially after the disappearance of the last known male bustard in the state in 2018. This male GIB was the last born in the wild in the state. With only three surviving females left in Kutch, all subsequent eggs laid over the years were infertile, pushing the species to the brink of local extinction in the state.
		+
		+	Under the Jumpstart method this time, the fertile egg was ferried from the breeding centre in Jaisalmer’s Sam to Naliya in Kutch. Officials created a halt-free corridor to ensure the safety of the egg during the 19-hour journey in a portable incubator. The egg, already incubated for about 21 days, was placed in the nest on March 22 when the female temporarily left to forage.
		+
		+	[[Category:Fauna\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:India\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:Pages with broken file links\|GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:Pakistan\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]

	=Population=		=Population=

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:13, 11 July 2025
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	The biggest threat to this species is hunting, which is still prevalent in Pakistan. This is followed by occasional poaching outside Protected Areas, collisions with high tension electric wires, fast moving vehicles and free-ranging dogs in villages. Other threats include habitat loss and alteration as a result of widespread agricultural expansion and mechanized farming, infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electric poles, as well as mining and industrialization.		The biggest threat to this species is hunting, which is still prevalent in Pakistan. This is followed by occasional poaching outside Protected Areas, collisions with high tension electric wires, fast moving vehicles and free-ranging dogs in villages. Other threats include habitat loss and alteration as a result of widespread agricultural expansion and mechanized farming, infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electric poles, as well as mining and industrialization.
		+
		+	=See also=
		+	[[Florican: India ]]
		+
		+	[[Great Indian Bustard]]
		+
		+	[[Houbara bustard ]]
		+
		+	[[Category:Fauna\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:India\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:Pages with broken file links\|GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:Pakistan\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:02, 20 May 2025
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	The GIB was once distributed throughout Western India, spanning 11 states, as well as parts of Pakistan. Its stronghold was the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan Plateau of the peninsula. Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rajasthan has the largest population of GIBs at 120 while Gujarat has six left after its last sub-adult male flew away earlier this year. The grassland habitat in these two states where the bird thrives has long been viewed as wasteland and exploited for agriculture, industry and irrigation projects. Unlike its neighbour China, which has rolled out grassland conservation and management policies that restrict the use of grasslands in some parts, India lacks such a law.		The GIB was once distributed throughout Western India, spanning 11 states, as well as parts of Pakistan. Its stronghold was the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan Plateau of the peninsula. Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rajasthan has the largest population of GIBs at 120 while Gujarat has six left after its last sub-adult male flew away earlier this year. The grassland habitat in these two states where the bird thrives has long been viewed as wasteland and exploited for agriculture, industry and irrigation projects. Unlike its neighbour China, which has rolled out grassland conservation and management policies that restrict the use of grasslands in some parts, India lacks such a law.
		+
		+	=B=
		+	=DEVELOPMENTS=
		+	=Artificial breeding=
		+	==2025==
		+	[https://epaper.indiatimes.com/article-share?article=20_04_2025_015_008_cap_TOI Vimal Bhatia, TNN, April 20, 2025: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	Jaisalmer : India became the world’s first country to achieve success in the artificial breeding of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) with the birth of the third GIB chick through artificial insemination at Jaisalmer’s Desert National Park.
		+
		+	The technology and training for artificial insemination, obtained from Abu Dhabi-based organisation “International Fund for Houbara Conservation”, contributed to saving this rapidly vanishing Schedule I wildlife species. Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientists had received specialised training from the organisation.
		+
		+	Suthirto Dutta, WII senior scientist and coordinator of the GIB project at the Jaisalmer Bustard Breeding Centre, said this was the third chick born entirely through artificial methods under this project, marking a historic achievement for India. This groundbreaking development was not just a success of a biological exper- iment but a milestone in giving new life to this rare bird on the brink of extinction.
		+
		+	Dutta said the Bustard Recovery Programme achieved this remarkable feat through artificial insemination. The scientific team procured semen from a male at the Sam Conservation Breeding Centre and artificially inseminated a four-year-old female at the fa- cility. “Project Great Indian Bustard reached a new milestone as the 11th chick of 2025 hatched on April 17 from an egg laid by the female ‘Sharky’ on March 26 in Sam Centre, after being artificially inseminated on March 20 with semen from the male ‘Suda’ housed in Ramdevra Centre, taking the GIB tally in the national conservation breeding programme to 55. This also marked the third success in artificial insemination for the species,” said Dutta.
		+
		+	Dutta said the procedure involved collecting male bustard sperm for insemination, culminating in the birth of a vigorous chick. WII’s endeavours proved fruitful, with the artificial breeding centre demonstrating its efficacy. Specialists verified the chick’s robust health condition. Previously, eggs collected from natural habitats were incubated artificially at the Sudasari Godawan Breeding Centre.

	[[Category:Fauna\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD		[[Category:Fauna\|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 Even after such extraordinary sightings, we were looking forward to spotting the GIB. It was almost at the end of our evening safari and we had heard enough bustard tales, but had as yet no sighting. I was quite anxious, imagining how I should position my camera that I could get the best shot of this shy bird. All of us were distracted when our guide whispered ‘bustard’. Sure enough, we sighted one but as we got close, it flew away before I could take a picture. Our return to the rest house was filled with high anticipation as we hoped to spot another GIB. Unfortunately, it did not happen. But, I was still happy to get a glimpse of a species that might be the next bird on the list to become extinct in India.
 =Population=
@@ Line 148: / Line 185: @@
 The GIB was once distributed throughout Western India, spanning 11 states, as well as parts of Pakistan. Its stronghold was the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan Plateau of the peninsula. Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rajasthan has the largest population of GIBs at 120 while Gujarat has six left after its last sub-adult male flew away earlier this year. The grassland habitat in these two states where the bird thrives has long been viewed as wasteland and exploited for agriculture, industry and irrigation projects. Unlike its neighbour China, which has rolled out grassland conservation and management policies that restrict the use of grasslands in some parts, India lacks such a law.
 =Recovery/ conservation measures=

@@ Line 215: / Line 215: @@
 GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
-Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection)Act, 1972, in the CMS Convention and in Appendix I of CITES, as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016). It has also been identified as one of the species for the recovery programme under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
+[[Category:Fauna|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
-−
-−
-−
-==2022: only four females survive in Gujarat==
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=13_07_2022_016_001_cap_TOI  Himanshu Kaushik, July 13, 2022: ''The Times of India'']
-−
-−
-Ahmedabad:The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is one of the heaviest birds that can fly and with only four females surviving in Gujarat, the state forest department is reconciled to their flight into oblivion.
-−
- At a meeting held in Gandhinagar recently, senior forest department officers said conservation of the GIB is not feasible in the current circumstances. The four GIBs take long and confident strides in the Kutch region today, unaware that they may be the last of their species in the state not long from now.
-−
- The Gujarat government has run out of patience in dealing with the difficulties confronting GIB conservation. In its latest affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, in April 2022, Gujarat’s energy department suggested that the four GIBs be translocated, so that hightension power lines can be installed and renewable energy infrastructure can be set up across Kutch.
-−
-Lala-Parjan Sanctuary in Kutch where the GIBs live is spread over just 2 sq km and is the smallest animal reserve in the country. In the early 2000s, the sanctuary had around 58 GIBs. The last male member of the flock in the sanctuary has been missing since December 2018.
-−
-According to a 2018 count, India has fewer than 150 GIBs, of which 122 are in Rajasthan.
-−
 [[Category:Fauna|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
 GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
-[[Category:India|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
+[[Category:India|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
 GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
-[[Category:Pages with broken file links|GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
+[[Category:Pages with broken file links|GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
 GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
-[[Category:Pakistan|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
+[[Category:Pakistan|B GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARDGREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
 GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]

@@ Line 160: / Line 160: @@
 =Status=
 [https://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/threatened_species/great_indian_bustard/   ''World Wildlife Fund'']
 Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection)Act, 1972, in the CMS Convention and in Appendix I of CITES, as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016). It has also been identified as one of the species for the recovery programme under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
 =Threats=

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:27, 5 December 2020
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	Mr. Bishnoi told the group that he would visit the DNP after the ongoing session of the State Assembly was over and convene a meeting of WII, forest officers and wildlife activists to take the GIB programme forward. He agreed that the endangered bird should get the highest priority in the conservation plans.		Mr. Bishnoi told the group that he would visit the DNP after the ongoing session of the State Assembly was over and convene a meeting of WII, forest officers and wildlife activists to take the GIB programme forward. He agreed that the endangered bird should get the highest priority in the conservation plans.
		+
		+	==2019/ 150 left; efforts to save them==
		+	[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/just-150-left-in-the-wild-fight-to-save-great-indian-bustard-is-down-to-the-wire/articleshow/69686197.cms Maulik Pathak, Himanshu Kaushik, June 7, 2019: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+	Maps: Wildlife Institute of India
		+
		+	Pictures: Devesh K Gadhavi, deputy director, The Corbett Foundation (Kutch division)
		+
		+
		+	[[File: Area in Thar where power lines must go underground.jpg\|Area in Thar where power lines must go underground <br/> From: [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/just-150-left-in-the-wild-fight-to-save-great-indian-bustard-is-down-to-the-wire/articleshow/69686197.cms Maulik Pathak, Himanshu Kaushik, June 7, 2019: ''The Times of India'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	[[File: Area in Kutch where power lines must go underground.jpg\|Area in Kutch where power lines must go underground <br/> From: [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/just-150-left-in-the-wild-fight-to-save-great-indian-bustard-is-down-to-the-wire/articleshow/69686197.cms Maulik Pathak, Himanshu Kaushik, June 7, 2019: ''The Times of India'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	[[File: Collisions with power lines have resulted in deaths.jpg\|Collisions with power lines have resulted in deaths <br/> From: [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/just-150-left-in-the-wild-fight-to-save-great-indian-bustard-is-down-to-the-wire/articleshow/69686197.cms Maulik Pathak, Himanshu Kaushik, June 7, 2019: ''The Times of India'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	[[File: From 250 in 2011, there are now less than 150 GIBs in the wild.jpg\|From 250 in 2011, there are now less than 150 GIBs in the wild <br/> From: [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/just-150-left-in-the-wild-fight-to-save-great-indian-bustard-is-down-to-the-wire/articleshow/69686197.cms Maulik Pathak, Himanshu Kaushik, June 7, 2019: ''The Times of India'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	Just 150 left in the wild, fight to save Great Indian Bustard is down to the wire
		+
		+	AHMEDABAD: Researchers this month sounded alarm over koalas in Australia becoming "functionally extinct". Closer home, a critically endangered bird that lost out to the peacock to become India’s national bird may be next in line. There are now less than 150 Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) in the wild -- a rapid decline from 2011 when their population was estimated at around 250.
		+
		+	Even as numbers of the iconic bird continue to slide, lack of cooperation between states and lackadaisical attitude of officials has hit conservation efforts hard. Experts say that the Centre’s push to save the species came only after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorised GIB as “critically endangered” in July 2013. For the heaviest flying bird in the country, it was already too late.
		+	Experts have also said little has been done to protect grasslands, the natural habitat of GIB, or address the threats that power transmission lines and windmills pose to them -- strangely a big killer of the birds.
		+
		+	A major factor contributing to dwindling numbers is collision with power transmission lines and windmills. Bustards generally favour flat open landscapes with minimal visual obstruction and therefore adapt well in grasslands. A large number of GIBs have died in the past few years after crashing against windmills or getting electrocuted by low hanging power transmission lines. According to estimates by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), four birds had died in Thar in 2018 alone after colliding with power lines and wind turbines.
		+
		+	Taking note of the threats to the bird, in February this year the ministry of new and renewable energy asked power transmission line agencies and wind energy farm developers to identify areas passing through GIB habitats and take up risk mitigation measures with respective state governments to avoid bird hits. Action suggested included painting tips of wind turbines to make them more visible to the birds in the dark.
		+
		+	H S Singh, member of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife, said there has been a lot of talk about identifying critical areas for retrofitting of transmission lines, yet little has been done.
		+
		+	Forest department officials in Rajasthan and Gujarat, however, said they have identified areas where power lines have to go underground. Experts maintain that this needs to be done on priority basis.
		+
		+
		+	Devesh Gadhvi, deputy director of The Corbett Foundation that works for GIB conservation, added, “State governments should take power lines underground. Since 2014, when the first case of GIB collision in Kutch was recorded, there has been talk about that, but so far nothing has been done. If the bird goes extinct, it will only be due to lack of a political will.”
		+
		+	A Gujarat power official on condition of anonymity told TOI that high costs involved in the project have also been a deterrent. Laying a kilometre of power line underground will cost approximately Rs 1 crore, he said.
		+
		+	In Rajasthan, where GIB enjoys the status of state bird, a plan for ex-situ conservation (captive breeding) has taken several years to materialise.
		+
		+	“Land has been allocated at Ramdevra near Jaisalmer. Houbara Bustard Breeding Centre at Saih Al Salam in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which has successfully reared as many as 30,000 chicks of houbara bustards has been roped in,” said Sutirtha Dutta, faculty at WII and co-supervisor of the Bustard Conservation Project. Dutta said an MoU has been signed by the WII, Rajasthan government and Dubai for this purpose.
		+
		+	After Gujarat's last remaining male bustard flew away, the state is also mulling a captive breeding centre, according to A K Saxena, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife). Notably, a breeding centre in Gujarat had been approved by the central government in 2015.
		+
		+	“Gujarat did not have enough bustard eggs to start the centre. There was a proposal to source them from Rajasthan but the project was shelved,” said former principal chief conservator of forests C N Pandey.
		+
		+	The GIB was once distributed throughout Western India, spanning 11 states, as well as parts of Pakistan. Its stronghold was the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan Plateau of the peninsula. Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rajasthan has the largest population of GIBs at 120 while Gujarat has six left after its last sub-adult male flew away earlier this year. The grassland habitat in these two states where the bird thrives has long been viewed as wasteland and exploited for agriculture, industry and irrigation projects. Unlike its neighbour China, which has rolled out grassland conservation and management policies that restrict the use of grasslands in some parts, India lacks such a law.
		+
		+	[[Category:Fauna\|B
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:India\|B
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]
		+	[[Category:Pakistan\|B
		+	GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD]]

	=Status=		=Status=