While poaching and the denotification of Protected Areas have grabbed the attention of the wildlife community, the slow, sure disappearance of smaller creatures such as the GIB has gone unnoticed. Poaching and habitat destruction precipitated the GIB crisis, but mismanagement of the habitat is now making a bad situation worse.
A keystone species, the GIB is an indicator of the health of grassland ecosystems of the Indian plains. Its absence is the first warning that the grassland is deteriorating.
Conservation measures
In the early 1980s, the states where the GIB is still found declared eight Protected Areas specifically for the bird. Despite this, the last 10 years have seen a drastic deterioration in the bustard's status. The main causes are:
1. Habitat destruction and deterioration: High livestock populations exert excessive pressure on grasslands causing disturbance to the bustards during the sensitive breeding season. At the same time, the widespread conversion of grasslands and 'wastelands' into crop fields has meant a fall in the area available to the birds.
2. The absence of clear cut land-use and animal grazing policies in India, combined with mismanagement of bustard sanctuaries.
3. Poaching: The hunting of the GIB is still widespread in parts of Rajasthan's Thar desert.
4. An increase in blackbuck and nilgai numbers in many places has led to crop damage, generating resentment among villagers against measures to save the bustard.
Perhaps, no more than 400 to 500 bustards survive in India, making them one of the most endangered species in the world.
Project Tiger and Project Elephant have shown that by focussing on an indicator species and its habitat, an array of threatened species are benefited. Bustards are indicators of grassland ecosystems and by conserving their habitats, many other grassland species will also be saved. In addition, protection and proper management of these grasslands will also benefit local communities who look to these areas for their fodder requirements.
Write a letter and support the BNHS campaign to help reverse the decline of the Great Indian Bustard.
