Is the Great Indian Bustard on the verge of local extinction?

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), a critically endangered bird with a global population of fewer than 140 individuals, faces the threat of local extinction in the Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary in Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh, as it has not been spotted in the area for the last couple of years.

Details:

The majority of the remaining wild population of GIBs, about 120, is found in the arid grasslands of Thar in Rajasthan, specifically within the Desert National Park and the Pokhran Field Firing Range.
In 2018, a conservation breeding program was initiated through a collaboration between the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Rajasthan Forest Department, and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), with the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) in Abu Dhabi serving as a technical partner due to their success in breeding other bustard species.
The GIBs’ low reproduction rate, characterized by laying only a few eggs and requiring nearly a year of parental care for chicks, poses a significant challenge to their conservation.
The breeding program, which started in 2019, involves collecting eggs from the wild and artificially hatching them at the Sam Forest Chowki in Rajasthan, repurposed as a conservation breeding centre to support the survival and growth of the GIB population.

About Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary:

It is located in the Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh.
It lies between the Nallamalai and Yerramalai hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats.
It was declared a sanctuary in 1988 to protect the dwindling populations of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard.
It is the only GIB Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh.
It owes its genesis to the discovery of the endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB).
Flora: About 32 species of grasses like Aristida funiculata, Chrysopogon fulvus, Heteropogoncontortus, Cassia fistula (Golden shower tree), Butea monosperma (Flame of the forest), Acacia spp, Ziziphus mauritiana, etc.
Fauna:
- The grassland Sanctuary is rich in invertebrate fauna particularly the insects that form a major part of the diet of most of the birds.
- Land monitor lizards, Geckos, Skinks, Saw-scaled viper; etc. So far about 6 species of amphibians have been recorded here.
- There are about 124 bird species like the Lesser florican, Demoiselle crane, Black stork, White stork, Harriers, etc;
- These plains are also a home to endangered mammals like the Golden jackal, Indian wolf, Black buck, Chinkara; etc.

Source: TH