News Highlight:
The apex court seeks the government’s response to evolving the ‘Project Great Indian Bustard’ conservation program.
Key Takeaway:
- The Supreme Court recently sought the government’s response about evolving a ‘Project Great Indian Bustard’ conservation program like the ‘Project Tiger’ to bring attention to the peril faced by the critically endangered bird species.
- The court was hearing petitions highlighting numerous deaths of Great Indian Bustards due to power transmission lines crisscrossing their habitat in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps):
- About:
- It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent, the State bird of Rajasthan is considered India’s most critically endangered bird.
- It is considered the flagship grassland species, representing the grassland’s ecological health.
- Usually found in Rajasthan (Desert National park), Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh in India and parts of Pakistan.
- Omnivores in nature
- Threats:
- Due to electrocution or collision with power transmission lines, many of these die.
- Hunting is a major threat.
- Habitat loss and alteration of lands for agricultural expansion pose a major threat.
- Depletion of grasslands
Government’s initiatives for the protection of Great Indian Bustards:
- Project Great Indian Bustard launched by the Rajasthan Government aims at constructing breeding enclosures for the species and developing infrastructure to reduce human pressure on the habitat of these birds.
- Great Indian Bustard is kept under the Species recovery program of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
- A program to build up a captive population of Great Indian bustards and release the chicks in the wild for increasing the population is also launched by the MoEFCC.
Protection Status:
- International Union for Conservation of Nature.
- The Great Indian Bustard is considered Critically endangered.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Schedule 1
- Convention on International trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- Appendix 1.
- Convention on Migratory Species.
- Appendix 1
Way Forward:
To Joined-up thinking on conserving The Great Indian Bustard which relies on a mosaic habitat of agro-pastoral land, making landscape-scale conservation essential to its protection.
Pic Courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source: The Hindu