How do you plan to save the Great Indian Bustard, Supreme Court asks the government

How do you plan to save the Great Indian Bustard, Supreme Court asks the government

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

• The Supreme Court has instructed the Indian government to disclose its plans to protect the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard by February.

Details:

• The directive emphasizes the need for a strategy to prevent the bird’s extinction, primarily caused by collisions with high transmission power lines in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• The Supreme Court issued the directive regarding the protection of the Great Indian Bustard in areas that are both natural habitats of birds and significant solar power producers.
• The court acknowledged the challenge of balancing anti-carbon footprint commitments with bird preservation efforts.

About the Great Indian Bustard (GIB):

• One of the heaviest flying birds endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
• State Bird of Rajasthan.

Habitat: 

• Untamed, Arid grasslands.
• Among the heaviest birds with flight, GIBs prefer grasslands as their habitats
• A Maximum number of GIBs were found in Jaisalmer and the Indian Army-controlled field firing range near Pokhran, Rajasthan.
• Other areas: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Population:

• As per the studies conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India, there are around 150 Great Indian Bustards left across the country which includes about 128 birds in Rajasthan and less than 10 birds each in the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
• While the GIBs’ historic range included much of the Indian sub-continent, it has now shrunk to just 10 per cent of that.

Protection Status:

• IUCN Status: Critically Endangered.
• Listed in Wildlife Protection Act’s Schedule 1.

Significance of GIBs in the ecosystem:

• Terrestrial birds spend most of their time on the ground, feeding on insects, lizards, grass seeds, etc. GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland and hence barometers of the health of grassland ecosystems.

Why is the Great Indian Bustard endangered?

• Among the biggest threats to the GIBs are overhead power transmission lines.
• Due to their poor frontal vision, the birds can’t spot the power lines from a distance, and are too heavy to change course when close. Thus, they collide with the cables and die.
• According to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), in Rajasthan, 18 GIBs die every year after colliding with overhead power lines.

Source: TH