Project Great Indian Bustard Adds Three More Chicks

Project Great Indian Bustard (GIB) has added three more chicks to the conservation breeding programme in the last couple of days, taking the total number of chicks hatched so far in the fourth year of captive breeding to 26.

The development was shared by India’s Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr Bhupender Yadav, on the social media platform. 

Mr Yadav said the three new Great Indian Bustard chicks emerged from one wild-collected egg and two captive-laid eggs. He said the captive stock has now grown to 94 birds, with more chicks expected this season.

The Minister said that in the fourth year of GIB captive breeding, 26 chicks have hatched so far, including 18 through artificial insemination, 4 through natural breeding, and 4 from wild-collected eggs.

In March 2026, two Great Indian Bustard chicks were incubated at the Conservation Breeding Centre of Rajasthan. 

Mr Yadav further said that, in exchange for the wild eggs, three chicks have hatched in Rajasthan through a jumpstart intervention to improve founder genetic diversity and mitigate predation risk.

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. 

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

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.