DEHRADUN: Once nominated for the national bird of India, the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is dying a slow death. Only 150 such birds are present in the country today, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has found in a survey. The birds are facing threat from extensive power lines passing through their habitats, predation by dogs and quickly reducing grassland.“We are left with just 150 GIBs today. There is an urgent need to start conservation breeding programmes by collecting eggs from the wild, hatching them in captivity, rearing them up to certain age and releasing them back to the wild,” said WII scientist Sutirtha Dutta.An ongoing survey revealed that the total count of GIB is 128 in the Thar area of Jaisalmer. In Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh the count is just 22.Dutta added that research studies indicate that the GIB count was around 1,200-1,500 in the 1970s, and in 2011, the estimation came down to around 250.GIB was added in the critically endangered species list by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013. The IUCN report at that time had pointed out that in the absence of a proper land distribution policy, the habitat of the bird has been encroached upon, especially in and around Bustard sanctuaries of Maharasthra and Kutch.Dutta added that GIBs are mainly succumbing to the extensive power lines passing through their natural habitat. “Fast-reducing grassland, urbanisation and expansion of agriculture through canal irrigation are also affecting the habitat of the bird species.”Asad Rahmani, former director of Bombay Natural History Society, said, “Earlier, the GIBs habitat ranged from Punjab in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south. Though the species need vast grasslands to survive, their habitat has reduced to barely a few km now due to urbanisation. The bird doesn’t fly owing to its weight and therefore it needs sanctuaries dedicated for them.”