Great Indian Bustard chick goes missing in Kutch: Forest officials

AMonth-old biddy of the outstanding native american Bustard, crosshatched in the natural state in Gujarat’s Kutch through a first-of-its-kind inter-state egg transfer, has been missing since April 18, with forest officials not ruling out predation and experts questioning whether adequate habitat safeguards were in place for its survival.The Great Indian Bustard, the state bird of Rajasthan, is among the heaviest flying birds of Indian grasslands, standing about one metre tall. Once distributed across 11 states, the national population has fallen from an estimated 1,260 birds in 1969 to possibly fewer than 150 individuals today, with more than 90% of the surviving birds concentrated in Rajasthan.Classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2011, the bird lays a single egg on open ground, breeds slowly, and has very poor frontal vision, making it particularly susceptible to power line collisions and ground predators.In Gujarat, only two to three wild females remain, with no males left in the state’s wild population.“The jumpstart technique has already been successfully implemented in Rajasthan for the Great Indian Bustard. Gujarat once had a healthy population, with Kutch as the last stronghold. Earlier, hunting drove the decline, but now power lines linked to wind and solar projects are a major threat. There were about 40 birds in Naliya around 2009–10. With barely three females left today, the jumpstart method addresses the immediate gap in breeding,” said Y. V. Jhala, former dean at the Wildlife Institute of India, who has been involved in national-level research and policy inputs on bustard conservation.Chick missing after first wild hatchingThe missing chick was born on March 26 at the Naliya grassland after a fertile (captive-bred) egg was transported over 770 km from Rajasthan in a 19-hour road journey using a portable incubator. The egg was placed in the nest of a wild female that had laid an infertile egg. It was the first wild hatching in Gujarat in a decade and the first inter-state jumpstart operation of its kind in the country.The intervention follows the framework set by the Supreme Court of India, which has held that the species is “seriously endangered” and requires active recovery, while also directing that conservation measures be implemented alongside renewable energy expansion through site-specific, expert-led recommendations.A field team of around 40–50 personnel, including experts and forest staff, had been monitoring the site with the GPS-tagged mother under watch.The bird was last seen attempting a short flight about 10 days before it went missing, said a senior Gujarat forest department official.Conservator of Forests Dheeraj Mittal said, “We are not ruling out the possibility of predation of the chick. There is a high possibility about that but my teams are scanning and still hopeful. This is a difficult terrain. I have so far not declared that the bird is lost.”“Work on the fencing is ongoing, but we could not wait. The fertile egg was laid in Rajasthan and had to be moved and placed within a fixed window. These opportunities come in real time, so the operation and habitat work had to run together. There are some changes in the fence design that will be implemented,” he said.He added that the outcome should not be viewed only in terms of lapses. “We are learning in the wild,” he said.Concerns over habitat preparednessWildlife experts, however, said several preconditions were absent on the ground when the operation was conducted. Grass management had not been done, and the vegetation was not tall enough for the chick to conceal itself from predators, said a wildlife expert who did not wish to be identified.“Habitat restoration work required under the Supreme Court’s framework had not been completed. Predator-proof fencing had not been installed. The free-ranging dog problem at the site, specifically identified in the expert committee’s report to the Supreme Court, had also not been addressed,” the expert added.The Supreme Court, in its judgment dated December 19, 2025, accepted the recommendations of the expert committee it had constituted in March 2024. The committee’s report listed predator management—particularly targeting free-ranging dogs—as one of the specific in-situ conservation measures required in Gujarat’s revised priority area. It also recommended grassland restoration, removal of invasive species, designation of key areas including the Naliya grasslands as Conservation Reserves, and construction of protective enclosures. The court directed that these measures be implemented forthwith.The Kutch Bustard Sanctuary, at approximately 2 sq km, is one of the two notified protected areas for the species in Gujarat, while the actual habitat extends across a larger grassland landscape outside formal protection. The court’s judgment set the revised priority area for Gujarat at 740 sq km, expanded from an earlier 500 sq km. Many of the directions given by the court and recommended by the expert committee have either not been implemented or substantial progress is yet to be made in this context four months after the judgment.Former dean of WII Jhala said, “Risk from predators is to be addressed but power lines must be mitigated, and a contiguous area of 200–400 sq km safe habitat without power lines or with their proper mitigation to be secured for the population to revive.”Kutch CF Mittal said, “Efforts to recover the GIB population in Kutch through the jumpstart method will continue. Two female GIBs have been tagged to track nests, and their future eggs will be used for similar interventions. At the same time, habitat improvement measures such as removal of Prosopis, strengthening of fenced enclosures, predator translocation, and water management are being undertaken to improve survival chances in future attempts.”