New Delhi, June 15: The conservation efforts for the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) have reached a significant milestone. On Sunday, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, announced the successful hatching of three new chicks as part of the conservation breeding program.
The minister shared this achievement on social media, revealing that one of the newly hatched chicks emerged from an egg collected from the wild, while the other two were bred from eggs provided in captivity.
With these new additions, the total number of chicks born in the fourth year of the project has risen to 26. The overall population of Great Indian Bustards in the conservation center has now increased to 94. Officials anticipate more chicks will hatch this season.
Bhupender Yadav noted that among the 26 chicks born this year, 18 resulted from artificial insemination, four from natural breeding, and four from eggs collected in the wild.
He also highlighted that instead of solely relying on wild egg collection, the project has successfully implemented a special “Jumpstart Intervention” technique in Rajasthan, resulting in the successful birth of three chicks in their natural habitat. This method aims to enhance the genetic diversity of the birds and reduce threats from poaching.
Earlier in March, the project entered its fourth year with the birth of two new chicks at the conservation breeding center in Rajasthan, one through natural breeding and the other via artificial insemination.
The minister congratulated the Rajasthan Forest Department officials and the entire team for this significant achievement in the Great Indian Bustard conservation campaign.
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