GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD Syllabus GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: The Supreme Court directed the Centre to come clean on its plans to save the critically-endangered Great Indian Bustard.

Great Indian Bustard

• About: It is the State bird of Rajasthan and is considered India’s most critically endangered bird.
• Flagship species: It is considered the flagship grassland species, representing the health of the grassland ecology.
• Habitat: Its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• Small populations occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• Protection Status:

oIUCN: Critically Endangered

oCITES: Appendix 1

oConvention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix 1

oWildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule 1

• Concerns: As Rajasthan shares the international border with Pakistan's Sindh and Punjab provinces, the birds will become easy prey for the gun-toting poachers there.

Initiatives taken to protect GIB

• Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats: GIB is kept under the species recovery programme under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• Conservation Breeding Facility: MoEF&CC, Rajasthan government and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have established a conservation breeding facility in Desert National Park at Jaisalmer in June 2019.
• Project Great Indian Bustard: It has been launched by the Rajasthan government with an aim of constructing breeding enclosures for the species and developing infrastructure to reduce human pressure on its habitats.