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Recently, the Central government informed that there were no Great Indian Bustards (GIB) in Kutch Bustard Sanctuary (KBS) as of January 1 2021.
About
- Kutch Bustard Sanctuary (KBS) near Naliya in Gujarat’s Kutch district Abdasa block is a tiny sanctuary notified in 1992 and spread over just two square kilometres (sqkm).
- Its eco-sensitive zone spread over 220 sqkm covers most of the present-day core GIB habitat.
- The creation of a safe haven for the birds led to an increase in the GIB population in KBS from 30 in 1999 to 45 in 2007.
- Windmills and powerlines started coming up right on the borders of the sanctuary from 2008 onward and GIB numbers started dwindling hence.
- Due to the barrier created by the power infrastructure on all its sides, sightings of GIB inside the KBS’ notified two sqkm area is becoming increasingly rare.
Great Indian Bustards(Ardeotis nigriceps)
About:
- It is a large bird with brown-and-white feathers with black crowns and wing markings.
- It is one of the heaviest birds in the world.
- It is the largest among the four bustard species found in India.
- The other three being MacQueen’s bustard, lesser florican and the Bengal florican.
- Males have whitish necks and underparts with narrow black breast-bands.
- Females are smaller, with a greyer neck and typically no or incomplete breast-band.
- It is the state bird of Rajasthan.
- Habitat and Distribution :
- The species occurs in the Indian Subcontinent, with former strongholds in the Thar desert in the northwest and the Deccan tableland of the Peninsula.
- Rajasthan is now home to the single largest viable population of the species.
- This species inhabits arid and semi-arid grasslands with scattered short scrub, bushes and low-intensity cultivation in flat or gently undulating terrain.
- They feed on insects, lizards, grass seeds etc. and are considered the flagship bird species of grassland and hence barometers of the health of grassland ecosystems.
- Threats :
- GIBs’ historic range included much of the Indian sub-continent but it has now shrunken to just 10 percent of it.
- It has an extremely small population that has undergone an extremely rapid decline.
- Widespread hunting for sport and food precipitated its decline, accelerated by vehicular access to remote areas.
- High-intensity poaching still continues in Pakistan and egg-collecting was rampant in many states during the early 19th century.
- However, the current threats are mostly from habitat loss and degradation, caused by Widespread agricultural expansion and mechanization of farming.
- Infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electricity pylons, wind turbines and constructions.
- Mining and industrialization.
- Well-intended but ill-informed habitat management.
- Lack of community support.
- Power companies’ high tension wires are major threat factors, leading to the death of about 15 percent of the GIB population due to collisions with power lines.
- Overhead power transmission lines: Scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have been pointing out overhead power transmission lines as the biggest threat to the GIBs.
- WII research has concluded that in Rajasthan, 18 GIBs die every year after colliding with overhead power lines as the birds, due to their poor frontal vision, can’t detect power lines in time and their weight makes in-flight quick manoeuvres difficult.
- Protection Status:
- IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered
- CITES Appendix I
- India Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule I
- Conservation Efforts:
- Project Great Indian Bustard
- It was launched in Rajasthan including constructing breeding enclosures for the species and developing infrastructure to reduce human pressure on habitats.
- Project Great Indian Bustard
- State Action Plan for Resident Bustards’ Recovery Programme
- The Indian government has provided financial support to conservation actions for this species in some regions and in association with several NGOs and experts has developed guidelines for the recovery programme.
- Mitigating Powerline Mortality
- In April 2021, the Supreme Court mandated that all power lines in both the ‘potential’ and the ‘priority habitats of the bird be laid underground.
- It would ensure the long-term conservation of the species and the successful reintroduction of captive-bred birds in the future.
- Bird diverters, colourful discs meant to alert birds in flight from a distance to avoid a collision, have been installed.
- However, there is debate in the scientific community about their efficacy for bustards.
- GIB species recovery programme.
- In 2015, the Central government launched the GIB species recovery programme.
- Under the programme, the WII and Rajasthan forest department have jointly set up conservation breeding centres where GIB eggs harvested from the wild are incubated artificially and hatchlings raised in a controlled environment.
- Other Conservation Methods and Solutions :
- The local people and their active participation are central to conserving the species.
- It now requires an urgent acceleration in targeted conservation actions in order to prevent it from becoming functionally extinct within a few decades.
- Consolidate core breeding areas identified across the species’ range by creating strict refuges during prime breeding months (March–September).
- Formulate landscape conservation strategies in priority areas.
- Community outreach and linking local livelihoods with bustard conservation in priority areas by subsidy/incentive-driven agro-environmental schemes that promote bustard-friendly practices.
- Provide more support and equipment to park staff, to better protect areas.
- Commencing an ex-situ conservation breeding programme as an insurance against extinction.
- Regulate and control eco-tourism to minimise disturbance to the species.
- Assess the efficacy of these conservation actions by systematic, country-wide population monitoring on alternate years for the next 10 years.
