From 250 in 2011, there are now less than 150 GIBs in the wild

Collisions with power lines have resulted in deaths

Dog attacks have contributed to GIB deaths



Maps: Wildlife Institute of India

Pictures: Devesh K Gadhavi, deputy director, The Corbett Foundation (Kutch division)

AHMEDABAD: Researchers this month sounded alarm over koalas in Australia becoming "functionally extinct". Closer home, a critically endangered bird that lost out to the peacock to become India’s national bird may be next in line. There are now less than 150 Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) in the wild -- a rapid decline from 2011 when their population was estimated at around 250.Even as numbers of the iconic bird continue to slide, lack of cooperation between states and lackadaisical attitude of officials has hit conservation efforts hard. Experts say that the Centre’s push to save the species came only after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorised GIB as “critically endangered” in July 2013. For the heaviest flying bird in the country, it was already too late.Experts have also said little has been done to protect grasslands, the natural habitat of GIB, or address the threats that power transmission lines and windmills pose to them -- strangely a big killer of the birds .A major factor contributing to dwindling numbers is collision with power transmission lines and windmills. Bustards generally favour flat open landscapes with minimal visual obstruction and therefore adapt well in grasslands. A large number of GIBs have died in the past few years after crashing against windmills or getting electrocuted by low hanging power transmission lines. According to estimates by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), four birds had died in Thar in 2018 alone after colliding with power lines and wind turbines.Taking note of the threats to the bird, in February this year the ministry of new and renewable energy asked power transmission line agencies and wind energy farm developers to identify areas passing through GIB habitats and take up risk mitigation measures with respective state governments to avoid bird hits. Action suggested included painting tips of wind turbines to make them more visible to the birds in the dark.H S Singh, member of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife, said there has been a lot of talk about identifying critical areas for retrofitting of transmission lines, yet little has been done.Forest department officials in Rajasthan and Gujarat, however, said they have identified areas where power lines have to go underground. Experts maintain that this needs to be done on priority basis.Devesh Gadhvi, deputy director of The Corbett Foundation that works for GIB conservation, added, “State governments should take power lines underground. Since 2014, when the first case of GIB collision in Kutch was recorded, there has been talk about that, but so far nothing has been done. If the bird goes extinct, it will only be due to lack of a political will.”A Gujarat power official on condition of anonymity told TOI that high costs involved in the project have also been a deterrent. Laying a kilometre of power line underground will cost approximately Rs 1 crore, he said.In Rajasthan, where GIB enjoys the status of state bird, a plan for ex-situ conservation (captive breeding) has taken several years to materialise.“Land has been allocated at Ramdevra near Jaisalmer. Houbara Bustard Breeding Centre at Saih Al Salam in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which has successfully reared as many as 30,000 chicks of houbara bustards has been roped in,” said Sutirtha Dutta, faculty at WII and co-supervisor of the Bustard Conservation Project. Dutta said an MoU has been signed by the WII, Rajasthan government and Dubai for this purpose.After Gujarat's last remaining male bustard flew away, the state is also mulling a captive breeding centre, according to A K Saxena, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife). Notably, a breeding centre in Gujarat had been approved by the central government in 2015.“Gujarat did not have enough bustard eggs to start the centre. There was a proposal to source them from Rajasthan but the project was shelved,” said former principal chief conservator of forests C N Pandey.The GIB was once distributed throughout Western India, spanning 11 states, as well as parts of Pakistan. Its stronghold was the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan Plateau of the peninsula. Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rajasthan has the largest population of GIBs at 120 while Gujarat has six left after its last sub-adult male flew away earlier this year. The grassland habitat in these two states where the bird thrives has long been viewed as wasteland and exploited for agriculture, industry and irrigation projects. Unlike its neighbour China, which has rolled out grassland conservation and management policies that restrict the use of grasslands in some parts, India lacks such a law.