GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD

1. Context 

2. Endangering GIBs

• Hearing petitions highlighting deaths of the GIBs due to power transmission lines, a special bench of the apex court was formed.
• This apex court directed the Chief Secretaries of Gujarat & Rajasthan to undertake a comprehensive exercise to find out the total length of transmission lines in question and the number of bird diverters required.
• This is not the first time that the Supreme Court had intervened in the conservation of the GIB.
• In 2021, the Supreme Court directed the authorities to convert the overhead cables into underground powerlines, within one year & the time diverters were to be hung from existing power lines.

3. Power Lines-Threat

• Several threats have led to the decline of the GIB population, but powerlines seem to be the most significant.
• In different parts of the world, the bustard populations have shown high mortality because of power lines like Denham's bustard in South Africa, and Great Indian Bustard in Spain.
• GIBs are large birds standing about one metre tall & weighing about 15-18 kilos.
•  The GIBs are not great fliers & have sideways vision to maximise predator detection but the species' frontal vision is narrow.
• These birds cannot detect power lines from far & since they are heavy fliers, they fail to manoeuvre across power lines within close distances.
• The combination of these traits makes them vulnerable to collision with power lines.
• In most cases, death is due to collision rather than electrocution.
• A study by the Wildlife  Institute of India (WII) in 2020 recorded 6 cases of GIB mortality due to power-line collisions in Thar from 2017-20.

4. Preventive Steps

• The GIBs enjoy the highest protection both in India & globally, as per Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, in Appendix I of CITES, as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
• The population of GIBs was 1,260 in 1969 but has declined by 75% in the last 30 years.
• GIB population was distributed among 11 states in western India, but now the population is restricted to Rajasthan & Gujarat.
• Small populations are found in Maharashtra, Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh.

• The initiative is likely to take 20-25 years.
• Scientists from WII, have called for removing all overhead powerlines passing through the GIB priority/critical areas in Rajasthan.

5. Other Threats

• GIBs are slow breeders & they build their nests on the ground.
• The species were subjected to hunting & egg collection in the past.
• There was a decline in prevailing habitat loss as dry grasslands were diverted for other use.
• Experts warn of pesticide contamination & increase in populations of free-ranging dogs & pigs along with native predators, putting pressure on nests & chicks.
• Most of the population of the species is confined to the Jaisalmer Desert National Park (DNP), Wildlife enthusiasts believe that more areas outside the protected area must be made suitable for the species.
• A conservation effort like "Project Tiger" may not work for a large bird of an arid region that can always fly out of the protected area.

For Prelims & Mains