New Delhi, Mar 15 (IANS): There are only around 150 Great Indian Bustards left across the country, including 128 in Rajasthan alone and less than 10 birds each in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
This number of 150-odd Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) was arrived at through studies conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, and the government is taking various steps for the protection of the birds in the country, Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, said in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
The Great Indian Bustard is listed in Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby according it the highest degree of legal protection from hunting. Important habitats of Great Indian Bustards are designated as national parks/sanctuaries for their better protection.
The Ministry has also constituted a task force for suggesting eco-friendly measures to mitigate the impacts of power transmission lines and other power transmission infrastructures on wildlife, including the Great Indian Bustard.
The other important steps taken by the government for the protection of the birds include a site for establishment of a conservation breeding centre for the Great Indian Bustard at Kota district in Rajasthan in consultations with the state forest departments of Rajasthan and Gujarat by the WII and international experts under the project titled 'Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard -- An Integrated Approach'.
The ministry, with financial support from the National Authority for Compensatory Afforestation Funds, has sanctioned an outlay of Rs 33.85 crore for the duration of five years for the programme.
Currently, a satellite conservation breeding facility with incubator, hatcher, chick rearing and housing for captive birds has been set up at Sam, Jaisalmer, which is managed by WII scientists and Rajasthan forest department with technical assistance from International Fund for Houbara Conservation and Reneco, Abu Dhabi.
A total of 16 Great Indian Bustard chicks, (artificially hatched from eggs collected from wild) are being reared presently in the satellite conservation breeding facility at Sam, the Lok Sabha reply said.
The species has been identified for conservation efforts under the component 'Species Recovery Programme' of the centrally sponsored scheme -- Development of Wildlife Habitat.
Incidentally, the Great Indian Bustard has also been included in Appendix I of Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) on the basis of a proposal submitted by India.
It was also the mascot of the prestigious 13th CMS Conference of Parties held in Gandhinagar, giving wider publicity to the conservation of the species, the reply stated.