The Indian government has finally taken note of the declining populations of the great Indian Bustard or "son chiraiyya" as called in Hindi, and has charted out a plan to save and recover the critically endangered bird.
The Environment Ministry, in a reply to Lok Sabha, said that the Centre has initiated a project worth Rs 33.85 crore for the conservation and protection of endangered great Indian bustards with just 130 bustards left in the country.
Babul Supriyo, Minister of State for Environment, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha spelled out the measures being taken to protect the Indian Bustard.
¡°The Ministry, through its Centrally Sponsored Scheme-Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH), provides funds to states or Union Territories under the component ¡®Species Recovery Programme¡¯ for conservation and protection of 21 critically endangered species, including the great Indian bustard,¡± he said.
The Ministry said that in the last four years, a sum of more than Rs 7.9 crore has been released by the government in Maharashtra and Rajasthan for the conservation of Indian Bustard.
Last year, Rajasthan, home to one of the last remaining populations of great Indian Bustard laid out a plan to save the endangered bird. On June 5, 2018, the state announced Rs 12 crore-Project Great Indian Bustard.
The Great Indian Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds, can weight up to 15 kilogrammes and grow up to one metre in height.
The bird is an indicator of health of the grassland ecology.
For long, activists and conservationist are demanding immediate action from authorities for the conservation of this bird, fearing that it may go extinct in the coming decades.
In case this happens, the Great Indian Bustard would become the first mega species to disappear from India after Cheetah in recent times.
According to a report by DownToEarth, ¡°Till 1980s, about 1,500-2,000 Great Indian Bustards were spread throughout the western half of India, spanning eleven states.¡±?
However, continuous hunting and declining grasslands, the population of the birds declined.?
In July 2011, the bird was categorised as ¡°critically endangered¡± by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).