Ahmedabad: The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) chick hatched in Gujarat’s Naliya grasslands on March 26, 2026, only to go missing since April 19 is now feared dead. The forest department issued a statement on Thursday expressing the likelihood of the chick being predated by carnivores.The birth of the chick, locally known as Ghorad, had been described as a significant milestone in ongoing efforts to revive the critically endangered GIB species in Kutch. The chick was successfully hatched in the wild using the jump-start intervention and a 50-member strong team of foresters aided by experts of Wildlife Institute of India were monitoring the growth and well-being of the chick. TOI on Tuesday had published a report titled ‘Guj’s most guarded GIB chick goes missing’. Two days later, a statement was issued by the conservator of forest, Dheeraj Mittal, expressing possibility that the chick was preyed upon by predator animals.“….. Since the last 3-4 days, the chick has not been sighted by the forest department or WII experts. Further surveillance carried out till also did not result in any sighting of the chick. Considering that the area and its surroundings are natural habitats of various predators, there is a likelihood that the chick may have been predated by smaller carnivores,” the statement said.Conservator of forest, Dheeraj Mittal said that the process of recovering a species is a long haul requiring persistent science-backed efforts. “The GIB, being a ground nester, experiences high early age mortality, wherein only ~40% of eggs hatch and ~60°/o of hatched chicks survive the first two months, beyond which the survival chances improve significantly. Until the first few months, when the chick is unable to fly, the female tries to defend it from the many predators integral to these grassland habitats, such as jackals, foxes, cats, mongooses, raptors and monitor lizards.“The CF stated that the team implementing the jump-start intervention in Gujarat focused on safe transportation and replacement of the egg in the nest, its remote monitoring, and management of habitat (water and invasives) and predators to reduce their impact. “While all these activities were implemented successfully, the threat from predation and natural death cannot be removed entirely, and can lead to mortality of chicks,” Mittal stated.The Forest Department said recovery efforts in Kutch will continue. Two female GIB have been tagged to help track nests, and future eggs will be targeted for the jump-start programme. Habitat improvement measures, including prosopis removal, strengthening fenced enclosures, predator translocation and water management, are also being expanded.
