Gujarat seeks GIB chicks for breeding; Raj says not now
JODHPUR: Left with only female great Indian bustards (GIBS), Gujarat has sought male chicks from Rajasthan, but the desert state has expressed its inability to translocate male chicks at present, officials said.
GIB, the state bird of Rajasthan, figures as critically endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list, 2011, and Schedule-i that accords it the highest level of legal protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Wildlife Institute of India (WII) surveys show that the number of GIBS has reduced by 75% in the last 30 years.
To conserve the critically endangered GIB, WII launched the project, ‘Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard: An Integrated Approach’, during March 2016 in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), Rajasthan forest department and NGOS with financial support from the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority Funds.
An official familiar with the project said that the temporary conservation breeding centre (CSC) at Sam (Jaisalmer) is functioning well and till date 10 eggs of GIB have been hatched.
Meanwhile, Gujarat has recently placed a demand for GIB male chicks.
“Yes, during the recent review of GIB’S conservation efforts through videoconferencing, we had made such a proposal before MOEFCC officials. In 2016, there were 25 GIB individuals in Gujarat, but now only 5-7 GIB individuals (all females) are being reported. Gujarat needs permission for re-introduction of male chicks of GIB from Rajasthan, but no decision was taken on it so far,” said Sanjay Sisodia, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Gujarat.
Rajasthan will not consider Gujarat’s demand for male chicks at present, officials said, adding that it will depend on the future results of conservation breeding.
“We do not have male chicks available right now, so we cannot respond to it right now. Conservation breeding of GIBS is going on in the state, making the founder population. Our focus is on the next generation, a reproduction of founder population, for which we will have to wait for five years. If the next generation production is as expected, then we will be able to consider the demand of Gujarat, Karnataka or any other state,” said Arindam Tomar, additional principal chief conservator and chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan.
“As per the project design of conservation breeding, we cannot share founder population with anyone. Not everyone will be able to take care of it. After the production of next generation, we will not mind giving any chick in favorable condition, because it is a national asset,” Tomar said.