Great Indian Bustard 

Great Indian Bustard

Subject: Environment

Context: Recently the Supreme Court asked the Government, whether a focussed approach, something like Project Tiger, can be taken up for saving the Great Indian Bustard (GIB).

Content:

Threats to GIB:

• GIBs are slow breeders and they build their nests on the ground.
• The species have been subjected to hunting and egg collection in the past.
• Decline in prevailing habitat loss as dry grasslands have been diverted for other use.
• Pesticide contamination and increase of populations of free ranging dogs and pigs along with native predators, putting pressure on nests and chicks.
• Frontal vision is poor and it often collides with overhead power lines, leading to death.

Conservation Measures:

• A total of 16 GIB chicks, artificially hatched from eggs collected from the wild, are being reared in the satellite conservation breeding facility at Sam in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. 
• The objective of ‘Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard­ an integrated approach’ is to build the captive population of the GIBs and to release the chicks in the wild. The initiative is likely to take 20 to 25 years.

To know more about GIB, refer: https://optimizeias.com/supreme-court-floats-idea-of-project-gib-what-is-this-endangered-bird/