Great Indian Bustard Conservation Milestone: 3 Chicks Born in a Day, 4 in a Week

Great Indian Bustard Conservation Milestone: The fact that three Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) were hatched on the same day, followed by an additional four chicks hatching in a span of just one week, after successful artificial insemination at the Sudasari Breeding Centre, located in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, was seen as a significant step forward in the recovery of the species under the Bustard Recovery Programme conducted by the Ministry of Environment Government of India.

Three chicks were born on April 2, while one chick was born on March 28. This boosted the conservation efforts of the Godawans, as they are locally called. The Rajasthan forest department had set up the GIB breeding centre on the outskirts of the Desert National Park under a project that was initiated in 2016.

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“ProjectGIB welcomes three new chicks of the Critically Endangered #GreatIndianBustard on April 2. Eggs laid by the females Rewa, Aman, and Sharky at the Sam Centre on 11–12 March were artificially hatched, taking the tally of captive-bred birds to six so far in 2025 and 20 since captive breeding commenced in March 2023, rekindling hope for rewilding the species in the near future,” the Wildlife Institute of India posted on X (formerly Twitter).

As per the officials, the chicks were birthed from four female bustards: Aman, Tony, Rewa, and Sharky, who laid their eggs in February and March. One chick was hatched from Tony’s egg through artificial incubation on March 28, followed by three other chicks from the eggs of Aman, Rewa, and Sharky, all of which hatched on April 2.

All are being monitored closely, said one official.

The Bustard Recovery Programme aims at captive breeding, along with establishing a suitable habitat for the future liberating captive-born GIBs into the wild. A significant milestone for the project occurred on October 16 of last year, with the birth of the world's first GIB chick through artificial insemination.

Quite a good collection of press reports had the center on the glow following the incubation of six GIB chicks in just over a month — one on March 8, one again on March 9, another on March 28, and three on April 2.

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“It is for the first time that three chicks have been born in a single day and four in just a week. This development is an encouraging sign for the species’ future. We are also excited that the conservation efforts for the Great Indian Bustard are yielding positive results,” district forest officer (DFO) of the Desert National Park (DNP) Brijmohan Gupta said.

That increases the count of Godawans in both the sites to 50, with Sam housing 22 and Ramdevra getting the rest 28.

The Great Indian Bustard, the State Bird of Rajasthan, is one of the rarest birds on the planet. It was once widespread across the Indian subcontinent, but the population continues to dwindle to below 200 individuals most of which are found in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and smaller populations remain in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

Among the heaviest flying birds in the world, this critically endangered species is prescribed under the IUCN Red List, listed under Schedule I of CITES, and protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is also the state bird of Rajasthan.

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