Great Indian Bustards (GIBs)

Great Indian Bustards (GIBs)

Subject: Environment

Context: Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) in Rajasthan’s Desert National Park (DNP) have laid around 20 eggs this breeding season, with four females laying two eggs each.

Concept:

• The Great Indian Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world.
• Scientific Name: Ardeotisnigriceps
• Habitat: Dry grasslands and scrublands on the Indian subcontinent; its largest populations are found in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Distribution:

• India, effectively the only home of the bustards, now harbors less than 150 individuals in five States.
• Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Small populations also occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• It is the State bird of Rajasthan.

Protection Status

• Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List
• In Appendix I of CITES,
• In Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Breeding :

• The sewan grass (Lasiurus scindicus) is the grass on which the GIBs use to lay eggs
• The GIB breeding centre was established in 2019 to protect and conserve eggs collected from the wild. The breeding season will last till October.
• Around 80 per cent of the GIB’s habitat is outside the Desert National Park.

DESERT NATIONAL PARK (DNP) 

• Rajasthan’s Desert National Park (DNP), where the GIB’s last remnant wild population is found,forming a part of the mighty Thar desert.
• It was declared as a National Park in 1981 to protect the habitat of the Great Indian Bustard.
• The Thar desert’s eastern boundary is characterised by the Aravalli hills, while the western boundary is defined by the fertile Indus plains. The Great Rann of Kutch forms a sharp border in the south, while the riparian sub-Himalayan plains form the northern limit.
• The Desert National Park (DNP) spans a total area of 3162 km2, with 1900 km2 in Jaisalmer and the remaining 1262 km2 in Rajasthan’s Barmer district.
• The majority of the Thar’s arid region’s vegetation is classified as thorn forest. Local communities, especially the ‘Bishnois,’ revere and protect Khejri Prosopis cineraria, which is commonly found.