Rajasthan has the highest population of the endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) followed by Kutch region of Gujarat.
There is some good news for the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) as they have managed to get a major chunk of attention during the world’s largest conservation event- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress held earlier this month.
Not more than 250 GIB's are found only in fragmented habitats in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and at the moment Rajasthan has the highest population followed by the Kutch region of Gujarat. Meanwhile, wildlife conservationists are worried that if immediate steps are not taken to conserve the bird and its habitat they will soon go extinct.
“We thought it was extremely important to not only create some noise but also raise awareness about GIB's and the huge question mark on its future at the IUCN Congress at Hawaii. Along with Wildlife Institute of India (WII) a knowledge café session was jointly organised and discussion took place,” said Kedar Gore, Director of The Corbett Foundation (TCF) that took the lead in initiating the dialogue on GIB's at the Congress and has been working in Gujarat to protect the GIB population.
Gore shared that the meeting went for about two hours and saw a lot of brain storming happening about steps that needs to be taken as well as the role of IUCN as well as other conservation group like Birdlife International and Conservation International who showed a lot of interest as well as concern about the bird.
“While the resident Bustard species of India – Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican and Bengal Florican are all under threat, the Great Indian Bustard is the worst affected and not more than 250 individual birds remain in the wild in India today. The major reason for this bird’s decline is the habitat loss due to several anthropogenic and developmental pressures, in addition to many other threats,” informed Gore adding that a mere 50 years ago India was home to over a 1000 birds and the major worry was that the habitat that they survive in are termed as ‘wastelands’ in Government records and is therefore given away for any developmental purposes and this practise should be stopped.
Infact, the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016 also saw the first ever coffee-table book on the Great Indian Bustard being released by Aban Marker Kabraji, Regional Director, IUCN Asia. The book that has been published by The Corbett Foundation and authored by Dr. Asad Rahmani, renowned ornithologist, and co-authored by Devesh Gadhavi and Kedar Gore is the only book available that gives all details about GIB from their history to their life stages and habits as well as the reasons for its dwindling numbers.
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 "Great Indian Bustard")
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