A Flight for Survival: Inside India's Plan to Rewild the Great Indian Bustard

In December 2023, two female Great Indian Bustards (GIB) were released into a protected enclosure in Rajasthan’s Desert National Park. This event, the first of its kind, marks a pivotal moment in a decades-long struggle to save a species whose wild population has dwindled to a mere 150 individuals. The rewilding initiative is the culmination of years of effort under Project GIB, a high-stakes experiment to determine if a species can be pulled back from the edge of extinction.

What is the government's rewilding strategy?

The current strategy combines in-situ (on-site) habitat protection and ex-situ (off-site) conservation breeding. The core of the plan is Project GIB, a joint initiative of the MoEFCC, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and the state governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The project, which began collecting wild eggs in 2019, has established two conservation breeding centres in Rajasthan at Sam and Ramdevra. Wild eggs are artificially incubated and the chicks are hand-reared to establish a founder population (Source: 1442).

As of early 2024, this program has successfully raised the captive population to over 40 birds. The recent release of two females is the first pilot test of the 'rewilding' phase. To facilitate this, the WII developed a 'soft release' facility inside the Desert National Park. Here, captive-bred birds are kept in a large, fenced aviary that mimics their natural grassland habitat, allowing them to adapt without direct human imprinting before their full release. The two released birds have been fitted with satellite transmitters that provide data on their coordinates and movement patterns, enabling close monitoring by scientific teams (Source: 1486).

Why did the GIB population decline so drastically?

The GIB's decline from an estimated 1,260 birds in 1969 to around 150 today is a result of multiple anthropogenic pressures. Historically, hunting was a significant factor. In recent decades, the primary driver has been habitat loss and degradation. The vast grasslands the bird requires were often officially classified as 'wastelands' and converted for agriculture, particularly with the expansion of irrigation in states like Rajasthan. This fragmented their habitat and increased their exposure to pesticides (Source: 1502).