Captive-Bred Great Indian Bustards Released Into Desert National Park

Wildlife protection in India rests on Article 48A of the Constitution, which directs the State to protect forests and wildlife. The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the law's highest protection category. Desert National Park (DNP) in Rajasthan, the primary habitat for this species, spans the Jaisalmer and Barmer districts. Unusually for a protected area, DNP continues to have human habitation within its boundaries, even as it remains one of the last wild strongholds of the GIB.

Conservation action for the GIB has been shaped significantly by a Supreme Court judgment, passed on the recommendation of a court-appointed expert committee. The court directed that overhead power lines in the bird's priority habitats be buried underground or fitted with diverters. A December 2027 deadline has been set for undergrounding lines in areas outside DNP. Power-line collision is the single largest cause of adult GIB mortality. The bird's heavy body and frontal-set eyes make it poor at detecting wires in flight.

The Bustard Recovery Programme is a joint effort of the Union Environment Ministry, the Rajasthan Forest Department, and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), with technical support from the International Fund for Houbara Conservation and funding through National CAMPA. Its National Action Plan has four linked strands: conservation breeding, habitat restoration, threat mitigation, and community engagement. Project GIB, under implementation since 2013, has over the past decade built a captive-breeding stock large enough that birds can now be released back into the wild.