Project GIB adds three more chicks, taking the captive Great Indian Bustard stock to 94 birds

In the fourth year of conservation breeding, 26 chicks have hatched — most through artificial insemination — as scientists race to save one of the world's most endangered birds, with eggs swapped back to the wild to boost genetic diversity.

What happened

• Project Great Indian Bustard (GIB) has added three more chicks to the conservation breeding programme in the last couple of days, Union Environment Minister Shri Bhupender Yadav announced on 14 June 2026.
• This takes the total number of chicks hatched in the fourth year of captive breeding to 26, and the captive stock to 94 birds, with more chicks expected this season.
• The three new chicks emerged from one wild-collected egg and two captive-laid eggs; of the 26 chicks this year, 18 were through artificial insemination, four through natural breeding and four from wild-collected eggs.
• In exchange for the wild eggs, three chicks have hatched in the wild in Rajasthan through 'jumpstart' intervention — a technique to improve founder genetic diversity and mitigate predation risk.
• The programme is a coordinated conservation effort to pull the Critically Endangered GIB back from the brink, building a genetically diverse captive population that can eventually support wild numbers.

For Prelims

• Great Indian Bustard (GIB): Ardeotis nigriceps — one of the heaviest flying birds; Critically Endangered (IUCN) and listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and CMS Appendix I. It is the State Bird of Rajasthan.
• Where found: The bulk of the tiny wild population is in Rajasthan (Desert National Park, Jaisalmer) with smaller numbers in Gujarat (Kutch); historically across the Thar/grasslands of western India.
• Main threats: Collision with overhead power transmission lines (a major cause of death), habitat loss, predation and low breeding rates. The Supreme Court (M.K. Ranjitsinh case) ordered measures including undergrounding/bird diverters on power lines in priority habitat.
• Conservation breeding: Led by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) with the Rajasthan Forest Department, with breeding centres in the Jaisalmer (Sam/Ramdevra) area; techniques include artificial insemination and head-starting/'jumpstart' egg exchange.
• 'Jumpstart' intervention: Swapping captive-bred output back into the wild (and collecting wild eggs) to boost genetic diversity of the founder stock and reduce predation losses in the wild.
• Project GIB / CMS: A species-recovery programme; GIB conservation also features in India's commitments under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) — India hosted CMS COP13 (2020), whose mascot 'Gibi' was the Great Indian Bustard.
• Don't confuse: The GIB (a grassland bustard) is distinct from the Lesser Florican and Houbara Bustard; 'Critically Endangered' is the highest IUCN threat category before Extinct in the Wild.

For Mains

Syllabus: GS3.14 · Linkage L2