GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD

GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD

Subject : Environment

Context : The Supreme Court intervened on behalf of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustards over the birds falling dead after colliding with power lines running through their dwindling natural habitats in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Concept :

• The Great Indian Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world.
• Scientific Name: Ardeotis nigriceps
• 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 harbours less than 150 individuals in five States.
• Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Small population 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.

Additional Information

• A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde will examine on a priority basis whether overhead power cables can be replaced with underground ones to save one of the heaviest flying birds on the planet.
• The court found further that an alternative mechanism — to install flight bird divertors — to guide the birds away from the power lines would be expensive.