Rajkot: The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) soft-release centre in Naliya, being developed by the Gujarat Forest Department to revive the critically endangered bird’s dwindling population in Kutch, is nearing completion.The forest department plans to bring GIB chicks from Rajasthan and rear them at the centre during the current breeding season, which continues until Oct. If transporting chicks is not possible, officials plan to bring fertile eggs from Rajasthan and hatch them at the facility.Only three female GIBs are believed to remain in the Naliya, a semi-arid grassland ecosystem that was once an important habitat for the species. With so few birds remaining, natural population recovery has become extremely difficult, making assisted breeding and soft release critical to the species’ survival in Gujarat.Conservation efforts received a major boost with the ‘jumpstart’ initiative, under which a fertile GIB egg was transported from Rajasthan and placed with a wild female in Kutch. The egg hatched and the chick survived for around five months before dying, demonstrating both the potential and the challenges of the programme.The chick was raised with minimal human intervention and gradually exposed to natural conditions. Forest officials monitored it from a distance, protecting it from predators such as jackals and reptiles while ensuring that it did not become dependent on humans.The new soft-release centre is designed to take the conservation effort a step further by creating controlled conditions in which young GIBs can gradually learn to survive before being released into the wild.“The centre has been created according to the standards of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). It is not fully functional yet, but the work is almost complete. We are hopeful of getting chicks during the current breeding season,” said H J Thakkar, deputy conservator of forests, Kutch (West).The soft-release approach has shown encouraging results in Rajasthan and is now being replicated in Gujarat as part of a broader effort to rebuild the GIB population in Kutch.“GIBs continue to lay eggs until Oct If everything goes to plan, we hope to get an egg or a chick for the soft-release centre during this breeding season itself,” Thakkar said.The GIB is classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List with its wild population estimated at only around 150 birds.
