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The recent sighting of three Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) deep in Pakistan’s Cholistan desert has given rise to speculation that it might have flown across the international border from India’s Desert National Park (DNP).Â
About Great Indian BustardsÂ
- Science Name : Ardeotis nigricepsÂ
- It is one of the rarest birds in the world and is the State bird of Rajasthan
- Its population of about 150 in Rajasthan accounts for 95% of its total world population.Â
- Habitat : It inhabits arid and semi-arid grasslands with scattered short scrub, bushes and low intensity cultivation in flat or gently undulating terrain.Â
- Birds congregate in traditional less disturbed grassland patches to breed during mid-summer and monsoon.Â
- Conservation Efforts : It is listed as Critically Endangered because it has an extremely small population that has undergone an extremely rapid decline owing to a multitude of threats including habitat loss and degradation, hunting and direct disturbance.Â
- It is listed in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby, according to its highest degree of legal protection from hunting.
Source:TH
