Episode 54: The Great Indian Bustard: Update

Bird Podcast with Shoba Narayan

Our first episode was about the Great Indian Bustard. The logo of the Bird Podcast is the Great Indian Bustard or GIB as it is called. Salim Ali wanted this bird to be India’s national bird for three reasons: it is indigenous to India, it is a large and charismatic bird, and it deserves protection because its numbers were dwindling, even in the 1950s when Ali made his plea. Instead the peacock won out. Then, as now, the fate of the bustard hangs in balance. Will we save the bustard?

The biggest problem for bustards: the powerlines that criss-cross the desert landscape. Locals hate them because they are ugly. Bustards cannot see them because their frontal vision is poor. In October 2022, yet another bustard was killed because it flew into a power transmission line, prompting wildlife organizations such as the Bombay Natural History Society or BNHS to once again petition the government to lay these lines underground.

In 2017, when we interviewed forest officials in Desert National Park, there were 150 birds. Today too, there are 150 birds. So while the numbers haven’t risen, they haven’t dropped either. There are 128 in Rajasthan’s desert regions, less than 10 in Gujarat and Maharashtra, and 16 chicks being raised in Sudashri incubation centre in Rajasthan.

The Rajasthan government has launched a project to save the bustard. Bird Podcast sincerely hopes that this will be successful.