Great Indian Bustard Conservation Efforts Receives Another Boost As Two New Chicks Are Born

India’s Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr Bhupender Yadav, informed that Project Great Indian Bustard has entered its fourth year of the captive breeding programme, with the hatching of two new chicks.

The chicks of the Great Indian Bustard were incubated at the Conservation Breeding Centre of Rajasthan. With the new hatchings, the tally of birds in captivity has reached 70.

Mr Yadav shared this development in a post on the social media platform, describing it as another milestone achieved under Project Great Indian Bustard.

The great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is a bird species found on the Indian subcontinent. It is a large bird with a horizontal body, long bare legs and is among the heaviest of the flying birds.

The bird is found in central and western India, where it lives in arid, semi-arid grasslands with thorn scrub, and tall grass interspersed with cultivation. 

Unfortunately, the large ground bird is critically endangered due to hunting, habitat loss, and the installation of electric power lines for solar parks in Gujarat and Rajasthan. 

In 2013, Rajasthan initiated Project Great Indian Bustard, identifying and fencing off bustard breeding grounds in existing protected areas, as well as providing secure breeding enclosures outside protected areas.

The project is supported by the Ministry of Environment, Rajasthan Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to save the critically endangered bird. 

In 2019, conservation centres were established in Rajasthan, and in 2024, a major milestone was reached: the first chick was hatched via artificial insemination.

Conservation Breeding Centre has been securing the captive population of the great Indian bustard, which can be bred to supplement the wild population.

The Minister said the two chicks of the great Indian bustard hatched at the Conservation Breeding Centre this week, one from natural mating and the other from artificial insemination.

Calling it an important milestone for the species’ conservation efforts, Mr Yadav said some of this year’s captive-bred chicks will be soft-released into the wild, marking a new, challenging beginning for the project.

Mr Bhupender Yadav also congratulated the forest officials of the Rajasthan Forest Department for the achievement.

You might be interested in reading about a unique court case involving the great Indian bustard. 

The expansion of renewable energy infrastructure in Gujarat and Rajasthan, which involves deploying solar panels across large areas of desert and grassland, has become a major threat to the great Indian bustard’s habitats. 

Following this concern, a case was heard by the Supreme Court of India, which led to a landmark verdict recognising the right to protection against the harmful effects of climate change as a distinct fundamental right underthe Indian Constitution. 

In 2024, under the Indian government scheme, the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) approved Rs 77.05 crore over five years for the conservation of the great Indian bustard and another bird, the lesser florican.