As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday 13 August 2018

Just one male Great Indian Bustard left in Gujarat


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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