Explained: Critically endangered Great Indian Bustards’ recovery program, and what lies ahead

The Bustard and Lesser Florican are both critically endangered species. Only 140 Bustards and less than 1,000 Lesser Floricans survive. Over 120 Bustards are found in the desert and semi-arid landscape of Rajasthan alone; the rest survive in the wild in other range states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh while Madhya Pradesh, another range state, has not recorded a Bustard sighting for several years.

Here’s a look at what is the Bustard conservation program, what has been achieved so far and what needs to be done to secure their habitats

What is the Great Indian Bustard recovery plan and conservation program?

The Great Indian Bustard is a large bird found only in India. It is known to be a key indicator species of the grassland habitat, which means its survival also signals the health of grassland habitats.

Over the past four decades, its population has declined steadily from being in the range of 700 individuals to less than 150 as of today, as per the Rajasthan Forest Department. Loss of their habitat to rising farmlands in semi-arid regions of Rajasthan, depredation of eggs by other predators such as dogs, monitor lizards and humans and more recently, death due to overhead power lines have caused their numbers to decline.

In fact, the threat from power lines was the subject matter of a recent plea before the Supreme Court which resulted in an important order. The Supreme Court, while agreeing with the government’s contention that overhead power lines could not be entirely eliminated from the bustard’s habitats, had constituted an expert committee to determine the “scope, feasibility and extent” of overhead and underground electric lines in the area.

The poor frontal vision of the GIB’s and their inability to swerve away from overhead power lines in their flying path, owing to their large size, are two key factors leading to their collision with transmission lines. A 2020 WII study estimated that 18 GIB’s die annually due to collision with overhead high-tension power lines in the Thar landscape. Such a high mortality rate can wipe away the bird’s wild population, the WII had noted.

The committee was also asked for other measures for better conservation of the bird. While examining this case, the Supreme Court also recognised the right of the people against adverse impacts of climate change as part of the fundamental right to life and right to equality.

The first steps to address the decline of the bustard population were taken between 2012-2013, when the Rajasthan government as well as the Environment Ministry began a long-term Bustard and Lesser Florican recovery project. The recovery project firmed up more in the year 2016 when it received a funding outlay of Rs 33.85 crore for seven years. This money was sanctioned to improve the bird’s habitat and start a conservation breeding program.

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund, which consists of money collected for afforestation in lieu of diversion of forests for non-forest uses, funded this project. Later, in July 2018, a tripartite agreement was signed between the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Rajasthan Forest Department and Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

This involved opening long-term conservation breeding centres (CBC) in Ramdevra and Sorsan, implementing field research projects such as telemetry-based bird tracking and population surveys, habitat management as well as outreach to local communities.

What has been achieved so far at the breeding centres?

Before the development of the CBC in Ramdevra, work on the conservation breeding in June 2019 at the temporary facility in Sam, Jaisalmer. conservation breeding began by collecting eggs from the wild. The eggs are incubated artificially at the centres and hand-reared in the breeding centre itself. Later, chicks that attained adulthood at the centre have mated and given birth to the next generation.

The breeding centres now have a founder population of 40 GIBs, of which 29 were those whose eggs were collected from the wild. The remaining 11 were born to those who were mated at the centre.

The scientific reasoning behind creating a founder population is to have a minimum viable population to prevent the probability of extirpation of the captive population and to capture the genetic variability of the source population. A minimum of 20 adult birds including 15 females is needed to establish a minimum viable population in captivity, as per the 2018 tripartite agreement.

The WII team plans to continue collecting four to six eggs per year until the captive-bred birds are released in the wild. For Lesser Floricans, since their population is still around 1,000, only two or four eggs will be collected from the wild.

What’s planned ahead?

While the total length of the next phase of the GIB and Lesser Florican conservation is 2024-2033, the immediate next phase will run till 2029. The target of the project would be to complete the upgradation of the CBC at Ramdevra and development of the Lesser Florican CBC at Sorsan, both in Rajasthan. The Ramdevra facility would also include a new lab for artificial insemination, which the WII plans to use from 2026 onwards.

Conducting population surveys in Jaisalmer, other parts of Rajasthan and the range states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will be done in the next two years. The most important target in the next five years would be releasing the captive-bred GIBs in the wild. The actual release in the wild would be preceded by soft release in enclosures in Rajasthan. The captive-bred GIBs would also be trained for release in these enclosures, as per WII scientists.

What has been done for habitat management and are they secure for rewilding of captive Bustards?

Bustards today face major threats to their survival. Any chance that the large birds have to survive in the wild depends on mitigating the risks posed by these threats. Delhi-based wildlife biologist Sumit Dookia, who runs a community conservation project on Bustards in Jaisalmer, said that the district’s landscape has undergone a lot of habitat changes in the last 20 years.

Most of the wild Bustards are using habitats that are outside the forest department’s jurisdiction in farm fields. “The current wild habitat is not at all secure and safe for GIB, even with the Supreme court’s order to place good quality bird diverters (to prevent collisions). In the last five-six years, 10 GIBs have been found dead under power lines in Jaisalmer alone,” Dookia said.

Kedar Gore, Director, The Corbett Foundation and Member, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Specialist Commission (Bustard Specialist Group) sought to draw attention to a tripartite agreement clause. It says that Bustard release sites must cumulatively have 200 sq km of inviolate space within the GIB landscape and comprise secured habitat patches exceeding 20 sq km each while the connecting habitats in between should not have hostile infrastructure.

“Power lines are a proven threat for bustards and considering the speed of ex-situ work, it is imperative to speed up mitigation of power lines and prepare such areas in Rajasthan and range states like Gujarat and Maharashtra. Habitat restoration should also happen with the support and benefit of the local community, keeping their livestock grazing rights under consideration,” Gore said.

On its part, WII has mapped the threats posed by power lines and renewable infrastructure across the 20,000 sq km GIB landscape. In collaboration with Humane Society International, 801 dogs were sterilized in 23 villages in and around the Desert National Park in 2018-19 while GIB predators such as monitor lizards, foxes and dogs were also captured and translocated from Bustard breeding areas, as per WII’s annual report on the recovery program.