Saving the Great Indian Bustard

[Simple_Guy]

The powerful Great Indian Bustard, which has a wing-span of up to eight feet, is one of the heaviest birds that is capable of flight. Several decades ago, officials contemplated making it the national bird of India but opted instead for the peacock.

It is, however, the state bird of Rajasthan.

Officials in Rajasthan, believed to be home to 120 of the remaining birds, recently announced announced plans to spend £1.4m in an attempt to protect the remaining bustards and try and encourage them to breed. In Gujarat, where there is also a population of bustards, the authorities have banned photography of the birds during mating season.

In Pakistan, where there is also a small threatened population of bustards, the birds are under threat from hunting, which remains legal.

One thing the birds do have on their side is space that has at least theoretically been set aside for wildlife. Rajasthan's Desert National Park spreads over 1,200 square miles from the border with Pakistan.

The Independent

 

[Simple_Guy]

Bustard Sanctuary in Kutch adds 32 sq km

The Kutch Bustard Sanctuary at Naliya currently spreads over just 2 sq km and efforts to enlarge it have been slow-going since much of the surrounding land is made up of revenue wasteland, grazing fields and private property. land measuring a total 32 sq km has been transferred to the state forest department in and around Kutch's Naliya grasslands through the "land bank" procedure and under provisions of the Forest Conservation Act.

The state-run GEER Foundation's 2007 survey puts the number of GIBs in Naliya, it's only habitat in Gujarat, at close to 50 over 996 sq km but concentrating in a core area of 97 sq km.

 

[Ray]

Keep the Sheiks away and all will be well.

There is an ongoing Army scheme to protect not only these birds but also the Rann wild ass.

The Army has also gone in a big way for the Greening of Kutch.

 

[Simple_Guy]

Rajasthan wildlife diary

Alarm bells rang when recent wildlife census figures recorded only 200 GIBs in six states namely Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Half of this population is found in western Rajasthan. Once a contender for being selected as the national bird, the GIB is now listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of India, 1972. The bird has already disappeared from more than 90% of its former range.

In another milestone, the forest department is going to reintroduce Siberian cranes in Keoladeo national park in Bharatpur district.

Following the successful relocation of tigers to Sariska tiger reserve, the state forest department is planning a national level tiger conclave in Ranthambhor.