Great Indian Bustard

Context:

The Supreme Court directed the Centre to clear its plans to save the critically-endangered Great Indian Bustard.

The Supreme Court outlined that the Centre should plan to maintain a balance between the preservation of the bird species and India’s global commitments to reduce its carbon footprints while embracing alternatives such as solar power.

Great Indian Bustard

Conservation Status:
- - International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List (IUCN): Critically Endangered
  - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix1
  - Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix I
  - Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
- Habitat: It is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat.
- Threat: Due to their poor frontal vision, the birds can’t spot overhead power lines from a distance, and are too heavy to change course when close. Thus, they collide with the cables and die.
Steps Taken to Protect
- - Project Great Indian Bustard: It has been launched by the Rajasthan government with an aim of constructing breeding enclosures for the species.
  - GIB species recovery programme: Under this, the Wildlife Institute of India and Rajasthan forest department jointly set up breeding centers where GIB eggs harvested from the wild were incubated artificially.
- Significance: GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland and hence barometers of the health of grassland ecosystems.