Critically endangered Bustard chick, guarded by 50 officials, feared eaten
What's the story
A critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) chick, born in Gujarat's Kutch on March 26, has gone missing and is feared dead. The birth of the chick was the first in a decade. A top source told the Indian Express that the bird was being monitored intermittently by around 50 officials who were mainly deployed to keep predators like feral dogs, jackals and foxes away from its habitat.
Monitoring challenges
Precautions were taken to ensure predators stay away
The official said the chick had started taking flight on April 18 but had not been seen in the last four-five days. "We are trying to locate it, but we also suspect it could have been eaten by a predator...maybe by a jackal or fox," the top source in the forest department. "Precautions were being taken to ensure...predators do not come close by by driving them away, but humanly it's...difficult to cover the vast terrain," the source said.
Conservation hurdles
Major setback for GIB conservation in Gujarat
This incident is a major setback for GIB conservation in Gujarat. The next egg-laying season is likely to be after the monsoon, when the jumpstart method could be used again to incubate a new chick by replacing an infertile egg with a fertile one. The jumpstart method was first used in this case, where a fertile egg from Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district was transported to Kutch for incubation by a female GIB with an infertile egg.
Species decline
Only 3 female GIBs left in Gujarat
According to the Indian Express, this was the country's first birth of the critically endangered bird under the 'jumpstart' method. The GIB population has been declining due to hunting, habitat loss and collisions with energy transmission lines. There are only about 150 GIBs left in the wild, mostly in Rajasthan. The large bird is an important indicator species of grassland habitat. Gujarat is home to just three female GIBs in the wild.