No More Great Indian Bustard In AP

Table of Contents

The last sighting of a Great Indian Bustard in Andhra Pradesh was outside of the Rollapadu wildlife sanctuary, a small patch of about 10 sq km, in Kurnool district.
In the last three years, there has only been sporadic sighting of the bustard in and around Rollapadu.

Sources said that it is feared that the last remaining bustards are all females with hardly any scope for them to breed, and it was just a matter of time before even the one or two birds seen in Siruguppa, disappear, ending GIB’s presence in south India.
The Rollapadu-Siruguppa belt represents the southernmost limit of the distribution of the bustard and with no bird sighted in a year, the Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary set up for its protection, could well have lost its flagship species.
According to N. Manjunath, range forest officer at Siruguppa in Karnataka, the last time the Great Indian Bustard was seen was on March 15 this year.

Protected areas dedicated to GIB

Rajasthan: Desert National Park – Jaisalmer and Balmer
Gujarat: Naliya Sanctuary in Kutch
Madhya Pradesh: Karera Wildlife Sanctuary (The species disappeared from Madhya Pradesh in early 90s’)
Maharashtra: Nannaj Grasslands, Solapur
Andhra Pradesh: Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary (No more GIBs here)

Great Indian Bustards

GIBs are the largest among the four bustard species found in India – the other three being MacQueen’s bustard, lesser florican and the Bengal florican.
GIBs’ historic range included much of the Indian sub-continent but it has now shrunken to just 10 per cent of it.
Great Indian Bustards is the heaviest birds with flight.

Their Habitats

GIBs prefer grasslands as their habitats.
Being terrestrial birds, they spend most of their time on the ground with occasional flights to go from one part of their habitat to the other.
They feed on insects, lizards, grass seeds etc.
GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland and hence barometers of the health of grassland ecosystems.

Protection Status

International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List: Critically Endangered
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix 1
Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix I
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule 1

Why Great Indian Bustard is on the verge of extinction??

Scientists of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have been pointing out overhead power transmission lines as the biggest threat to the GIBs.
WII research has concluded that in Rajasthan, 18 GIBs die every year after colliding with overhead powerlines as the birds, due to their poor frontal vision, can’t detect powerlines in time and their weight make in-flight quick manoeuvres difficult.
Coincidentally, Kutch and Thar desert are the places which have witnessed creation of huge renewable energy infrastructure over the past two decades, leading to installation of windmills and construction of power lines even in core GIB areas.
Widespread hunting for sport and food precipitated its decline, accelerated by vehicular access to remote areas.
Change in landscape by way of farmers cultivating their land, which otherwise used to remain fallow due to frequent droughts in Kutch, and cultivation of cotton and wheat instead of pulses and fodder are also cited as reasons for falling GIB numbers.

Timeline their extinction

In February last year, the Central government had told the 13th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) held in Gandhinagar, that the GIB population in India had fallen to just 150.
Of them 128 birds were in Rajasthan, 10 in Kutch district of Gujarat and a few in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Conservation measures

Species Recovery Programme: It is kept under the species recovery programme under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
National Bustard Recovery Plans: It is currently being implemented by conservation agencies.
Project Great Indian Bustard: It has been launched by the Rajasthan government with an aim of constructing breeding enclosures for the species and developing infrastructure to reduce human pressure on its habitats.
Eco-Friendly Measures: Task Force for suggesting eco-friendly measures to mitigate impacts of power transmission lines and other power transmission infrastructures on wildlife including the Great Indian Bustard.
Seeking modification of this order, the application filed jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said the SC direction “has vast adverse implications for the power sector in India and energy transition away from fossil fuels” and that the MNRE was not heard before the order was passed.
The government said that energy transition is essential for reducing emission and controlling climate change and India has made international commitments including under the agreement signed in Paris in 2015 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for transition to non-fossil fuels and for emission reduction.
India, it added, has set a target to achieve installed renewable energy capacity (excluding large Hydro) of 175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.
It urged the court to allow high voltage and extra high voltage lines i.e. 66 kV and above power lines in Priority GIB Habitat to be laid as overhead power lines with installation of appropriate mitigation measures such as bird diverters.

Question:
Which one of the following groups of animals belongs to the category of endangered species? [PYQ]
(a)Great Indian Bustard, Musk Deer, Red Panda and Asiatic Wild Ass
(b)Kashmir Stag, Cheetal, Blue Bull and Great Indian Bustard
(c)Snow Leopard, Swamp Deer, Rhesus Monkey and Saras (Crane)
(d)Lion-tailed Macaque, Blue Bull, Hanuman Langur and Cheetal