Great Indian Bustards now migrating to Pakistan

Subject : Environment

Context:

The recent sighting of three Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) deep in Pakistan’s Cholistan desert has given rise to speculation that the endangered birds might have flown across the international border from India’s Desert National Park (DNP).

Great Indian Bustards (GIBs):

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.
GIBs are critically endangered because of lack of protection and rampant hunting.

Distribution:

India, effectively the only home of the bustards, now harbours 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

Breeding:

The sewan grass (Lasiurus scindicus) is the grass on which the GIBs use to lay eggs
Around 80 per cent of the GIB’s habitat is outside the Desert National Park.

Great Indian Bustards in Pakistan

A Great Indian Bustard spotted in Pakistan’s Cholistan reserve.
Though it was not claimed that the GIBs had arrived from India, environmental activists in Jaisalmer district say the birds might have migrated due to their shrinking habitat.
As Rajasthan shares the international border with Pakistan’s Sindh and Punjab provinces, it is suspect- ed that the GIBs might have flown across to the neighbouring country’s desert amid fears that they could become easy prey for the poachers there.

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.

Conservation project for Great Indian Bustards:

The GIB is considered India’s most critically endangered bird and is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.
Its population of about 150 in Rajasthan accounts for 95% of its total world population.
The captive breeding of GIBs was taken up in the Desert National Park (DNP) through a project executed by the Dehradun- based Wildlife Institute of India in 2019.
As many as 24 GIB chicks are being reared in DNP by a team supported by the International Fund for Houbara Conservation of United Arab Emirates.