Great Indian Bustard chick passes critical stage of survival under ‘jumpstart’

• A second Great Indian Bustard chick born in Gujarat’s Kutch district through a novel conservation technique called ‘jumpstart’ has successfully crossed the critical 40-day survival stage, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said.

• The minister shared the update after reviewing the progress of ‘Project Great Indian Bustard’ during the 91st meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife held at Coimbatore on July 9.

• The success comes nearly three months after the first Great Indian Bustard chick born in Gujarat through the same conservation method went missing in April, with forest officials fearing it had fallen prey to wild predators.

• The ‘jumpstart’ technique involves placing an incubated fertile egg from the captive breeding programme in the nest of a wild female so that she incubates, hatches and raises the chick in its natural habitat, thereby improving the bird’s chances of adapting to life in the wild.

• The first chick had hatched in the Naliya grasslands on March 26 after a fertilised egg was transported about 770 km by road from Rajasthan to Gujarat under the country’s first inter-state ‘jumpstart’ initiative for the species.

• The project was launched because only three female birds of this species are believed to survive in the grasslands of Kutch, leaving virtually no possibility of natural breeding in the wild.

• The captive breeding programme has also made significant progress in Rajasthan, with the total number of chicks born at the conservation centres in Sam and Ramdevra reaching 98.

Great Indian Bustard

• The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is a critically endangered species.

• They are found in localised grassland habitats and have been facing challenges of habitat degradation and anthropogenic factors. 

• The decline in the population of the Great Indian Bustards is associated with a variety of factors such as loss of habitat, degradation of habitat quality, enhanced agriculture, and predation by feral and domesticated dogs, other wild carnivores and associated anthropogenic activities. 

• The collision with the high tension power line and wind mills are also one of the reasons for mortality. 

• Further, GIBs are also considered as slow breeders. 

Threats due to power lines

• The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in its Report “Power Line Mitigation, 2018” has stated that every year one lakh birds die due to collision with power lines. 

• Overhead power lines are the biggest threat to the survival of the GIBs. 

• The Report concluded that unless power line mortality is mitigated urgently, extinction of GIBs is certain.

• The Great Indian Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world, about a metre in height and wingspan of around seven feet.

• The Great Indian Bustard lacks frontal vision. Due to this, they cannot detect power lines ahead of them, from far. As they are heavy birds, they are unable to manoeuvre across power lines within close distances. Thus, they are vulnerable to collision with power lines.

• In case of low voltage lines, electrocution is often the cause of death due to smaller phase to phase separation distance.

Steps taken by govt for protection of GIBs

• The Great Indian Bustard is listed in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby, according it highest degree of legal protection from hunting.

• Important habitats of GIBs are designated as national parks/sanctuaries for their better protection.

• The species has been identified for conservation efforts under the component ‘Species Recovery Programme’ of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)-Development of Wildlife Habitat. 

• Financial and technical assistance is provided to state/Union Territory governments under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Development of Wildlife Habitat for providing better protection to Great Indian Bustard and its habitat.

• The Union Environment Ministry has taken up an initiative on conservation breeding of the Great Indian Bustard in collaboration with Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra forest departments and technical support from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. 

• Two conservation breeding centers have been established at Sam and Ramdevra in Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan. 

• The programme has developed techniques for artificial hatching, chick rearing, bustard husbandry, and captive breeding. The GIB has been bred in captivity successfully under this programme.

• Great Indian Bustard has been included in the Appendix I of Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) on the basis of a proposal submitted by India.