Great Indian Bustard rewilding begins as two captive-bred birds are released in Rajasthan

Two captive-bred Great Indian Bustards have been released into the wild in Rajasthan's Desert National Park, launching a high-stakes attempt to rescue one of India’s most endangered birds from the brink of extinction.

The two male birds were released on Sunday at Sam in Jaisalmer. It is the first time that bustards reared in captivity have been returned to their natural habitat, marking a new phase for a conservation programme that has been running for nearly a decade.

"With this, we have entered a new era of GIB conservation," said Ashok Singh, assistant conservator of forest at Jaisalmer.

How the birds were trained for the wild

Releasing a captive-reared bird into the open is notoriously difficult. To prepare them, the two bustards underwent intensive rewilding training inside a purpose-built tunnel facility at the Ramdevra breeding centre, which cost ‹9.25 crore to build.

Ashok Singh said the tunnel exposed the birds to natural sunlight, wind, and temperature fluctuations. More importantly, it forced them to forage for water and hunt live prey, such as insects, rather than relying on hand-fed meals.

Scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) will now monitor the birds using tracking devices to see if they can feed, survive, and eventually breed without human help. Mahesh Gurjar, a WII official, said the data gathered from this first release will help researchers decide how to train and release future birds, and how to manage the genetic diversity of the species.

Why the Great Indian Bustard is facing extinction

The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) was once common across India, ranging from Punjab to Tamil Nadu. Today, fewer than 150 birds survive in the wild, mostly concentrated in the grasslands of Jaisalmer and the Kutch region of Gujarat.

The species has been hit by two major crises. The first was the loss of its natural grassland habitat, which was historically classified as "wasteland" and cleared for agriculture or development.

The second, more modern threat is the rise of overhead power lines. Bustards have excellent peripheral vision to spot predators but poor forward vision. When flying, they often fail to see high-voltage power lines until it is too late.

MK Ranjitsinh, a former Union environment secretary, said the high-voltage lines connecting wind and solar farms to the grid in western Rajasthan and Gujarat directly overlap with the bustards' traditional home. This overlap has caused a high number of collision deaths over the last two decades.

While the Supreme Court restricted overhead power lines across 99,000 square kilometres of bustard habitat in 2021, it later eased those rules to cover around 14,000 square kilometres to allow more time for utility companies to lay cables underground.

What happens next

Since the captive breeding programme began in Jaisalmer in 2016, the project has successfully reared 98 birds, including 38 hatched using artificial insemination.

If this initial release succeeds, conservationists plan to replicate the process in Kutch, Gujarat, where habitat restoration is already underway. Gujarat officials have cleared invasive vegetation and installed predator-proof fencing across a 15-square-kilometre area in Naliya.

However, local conservationists warn that breeding the birds is only half the battle. Sumer Singh Bhati, who has monitored the birds in western Rajasthan for over ten years, said the real test is survival. He said that unless the habitat is improved and power lines are moved underground, the birds will continue to face extreme risks.