The Great Indian Bustard, the largest bird of India was once seen across many states such as Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. But now the population is on decline and now most of it is to be found in Desert National Park, Rajasthan.
According to a recent survey conducted by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) resulted in just 8 GIBs in Maharashtra which is alarmingly low. Also IUCN report says there are just 20 in Gujarat and so Rajasthan has around 100-150 which might be overestimated. Such a population is very low and thus these beautiful birds are critically endangered.
The biggest threat to their shrinking habitat has been industrialisation, overhead cables, mining, and intensive agricultural practices. The state government has declared GIB as its national bird but not much is done on ground.
This might be the first extinction in this century in India and we might loose out a beautiful bird, which many people still aren't aware of.
There needs to be a dedicated conservation programme for this bird and should be initiated as soon as possible. Captive breeding could be a good solution since we can't rely on such a small population in the wild. Please take action today to help us protect the Great Indian Bustard.
