From Suda to Tony, a seed of life for Great Indian Bustards

Since 2019, these two centres have been the ground zero for India’s long-term GIB recovery project, where scientists from WII and Rajasthan forest department have hand-reared 45 GIBs so far.

“To collect Suda’s sperm, we used a dummy bird to simulate mating. Once it was felt that it was acclimatised properly, it was made to mate with the dummy and its sperm was collected, stored and safely transported to the Sam facility,” Sutirtha Dutta, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientist and project investigator, explained.

WII scientists transported the sperm in the third week of September. Bustards have a quick gestation period, ranging from a few days to a maximum of six weeks. Tony responded well to the insemination, and she laid eggs within three days. One of the eggs hatched on October 16, leading to the birth of the

first GIB chick through assisted reproduction.

Artificial insemination, Dutta explained, is useful for two key reasons. One, natural mating has its limitations, he said, as the male and female bustard can be in their breeding phase, or in heat, during different periods of time. On an average, a female bustard lays eggs only once or twice and the survival rate is poor, at around 60 per cent.

Second, artificial insemination helps to increase genetic diversity. “We have avoided transferring the captive bred birds between the two centres to prevent them from stress. With the help of artificial insemination, we have an additional tool and it will help increase genetic diversity. This will help them eventually when they are released in the wild,” said Dutta.

Ashish Vyas, deputy conservator of forest (wildlife), Jaisalmer, said that with this technique, they can also use cryopreservation to help augment fertility rates.

The GIB species is on the brink of extinction, with an estimated population of only 150 ranging in the wild, mostly in Rajasthan. The numbers have plummeted over the years, owing to factors like hunting, loss of habitat and, more recently, collision with power lines.

There is a “founder population” of 45 GIBs at the two captive breeding centres. Of these, 32 were hatched from eggs collected from the wild. The remaining 13 were born to those mated in captivity at these centres.

As part of the eventual re-wilding process of the captive bustards, aviaries will be built at the two centres for their soft release. WII and Rajasthan plan to release the first few bustards in the wild in the second half of 2025, Vyas said.

The scientific rationale for creating a “founder population” is to have a minimum viable population and to maintain 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.

Prior to the insemination process, WII scientists visited the International Fund for Houbara Bustard (IHFC) facility in Abu Dhabi, to learn about assisted reproduction. The centre began captive breeding of houbara bustards in 1977. “We had to start de novo. The Abu Dhabi centre also sent their experts to India to impart training. The purpose was to understand the science and learn the right techniques,” Dutta said.

Though a long leap away from restoring the glory days of the large terrestrial bird, the success of this experiment marks an important step in restoring their population.