UPSC Darpan

Environment & EcologyGS33 October 2026

Captive-bred Great Indian Bustards to be released into Thar wild for first time

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The news

Jaisalmer. Captive-bred Great Indian Bustards (GIB) will be released into the wild for the first time, marking the start of the ‘rewilding’ phase of Project GIB, under way since 2013. The Indian Express reports at least two male chicks, four to six months old, will be released on October 4 into enclosures of 15-20 sq km in the Desert National Park and radio-tagged; the Free Press Journal reports ten birds, at Ramdevra on October 3 and Sudasari on October 4, so the scale is not yet settled. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has bred at least 98 birds at Sam and Ramdevra; about 140 survive in the wild, mostly in Rajasthan. Release follows the monsoon, when insects are plentiful as feed. Survival of released captive-bred bustards is only 10-30% a year, project scientists say.

The chain in one line: Habitat loss, predation and power-line collisions keep the wild population at 120-150 → the Supreme Court orders lines in bustard habitat underground → WII hatches wild-collected eggs in captivity from 2019 → captive-bred chicks are now released to test whether they survive

Static syllabus linkage

  1. The GIB has the highest protection under Indian and international law. The Great Indian Bustard is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the highest protection. It is the State bird of Rajasthan, and breeds only once every one to two years, so a reduced population recovers slowly.
  2. The Supreme Court has ruled on power lines in GIB habitat. In M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India, the Supreme Court in April 2021 ordered overhead lines in priority GIB habitat in Rajasthan and Gujarat underground where feasible. In March 2024 it modified that order on the Centre’s plea about renewable-energy costs, set up an expert committee and recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.

Why UPSC loves this

  1. Species recovery sits in the GS3 conservation line. The syllabus line “Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation” covers species recovery. The GIB joins three examinable themes: an endangered species, a court order and a clash with clean energy.

Prelims nuggets

  • The Great Indian Bustard is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
  • The GIB conservation breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra in Jaisalmer district are run by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
  • The ‘jumpstart’ method replaces infertile eggs laid by wild females with viable eggs from a captive-breeding centre.

Analysis

  1. Lens — Development and environment: releasing birds is pointless if the lines that killed them stay up. Captive breeding produces birds, but a major cause of death, collisions with lines evacuating renewable power, lies outside the breeding centre. The Supreme Court’s December 2027 deadline for burying lines outside the Desert National Park, reported by The Indian Express, is as much part of this programme as the aviary. The judgement: clean energy and the bustard can share the Thar only if line routing is planned before projects, not after carcasses are found.
  2. Low survival is expected, so the measure of success is years, not birds. Captive-raised birds must still learn to evade desert foxes and birds of prey, hence the low survival and the soft release in a quiet aviary at Sam. At least 40 wild birds live around the release sites. Success means released birds breeding in the wild, which, given eggs only every one to two years, will take several seasons.
  3. Breeding technology buys time but cannot replace habitat. Artificial incubation, captive mating and the ‘jumpstart’ egg swap in Kutch are real gains and insurance against collapse. But the 2024-25 survey found the birds concentrated on flat grassland free of settlements and renewable infrastructure. Without protecting that grassland, a captive flock is a museum, not a recovery.

Possible Mains question

Can captive breeding save the Great Indian Bustard without addressing threats to its habitat? Explain. (10 marks, 150 words)

Model approach

  1. Directive — Explain. Make clear, with reasons, why breeding alone is not enough.
  2. Introduction — about 140 birds remain; the first captive-bred birds now enter the wild. About 20 words.
  3. Breeding is insurance: at least 98 birds bred at Sam and Ramdevra. Value addition: 10-30% annual survival of released birds.
  4. Power lines and lost grassland are the cause of decline, not lack of birds. Value addition: M.K. Ranjitsinh case and the December 2027 burial deadline; draw a cycle of breed, release, survive, breed in wild, with power lines and habitat loss as breaks.
  5. Conclusion — breed, release and secure the grassland together. About 15 words.

Administrator's brainstorm

As District Collector of Jaisalmer, a solar developer seeks approval for an overhead line across a GIB area. What do you do?

I would check the route against mapped GIB habitat and the Supreme Court’s directions, since an overhead line there may be barred. I would ask the developer to reroute or bury it, with bird diverters wherever overhead lines are permitted, and record the decision with the forest department’s advice, so energy targets and a court-protected species are reconciled before the line goes up.