12/07/2018
Reports that only a single
male Great
Indian Bustard survives in Gujarat's Kutch district have been
confirmed by experts, leaving it on the brink of extinction in the state.
During the last census in 2016,
the forest department had counted 25 birds in Gujarat, mostly in and around the
Great Indian Bustard sanctuary in Kutch and at that point of time, four males
had been recorded. But since then, three have disappeared and environmentalists
believe they most likely died in a collision with the power lines. With just
one male left, the situation of the species has become even more precarious as
the birds are notoriously shy and breed once every two years. The single
remaining male is a sub-adult, not yet of breeding age.
Sutirtha Dutta, a scientist and
bustard expert at the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
told Down To Earth: "Breeding in the area has stopped because there
are no mature males left. We could bring this sub-adult into captivity but that
is not possible right now, as the captive breeding programme for the bustard
– to be conducted jointly by the Rajasthan government, the Union Ministry
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the WII – has not yet
started. Hence, proper captive facilities are not available right now.
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