At first sight, the Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps (Critically Endangered) certainly doesn’t look as if it needs protecting. Towering at a metre tall, this imposing, robust bird struts slowly through the grassland of the Indian subcontinent as if it owned the place. And once upon a time, it did. Formerly widespread and abundant, this […]
Tag: Great Indian Bustard
Petition: Will India Let This Great Bird Go Extinct?
The great Indian bustard may become the first bird to go extinct in India since the country gained independence in 1947. In 1960 the bird was already recognized as a legally protected endangered species, but its population was estimated to be just 1,250 individuals – and dropping fast. Fearing that the species would decline even […]
Video: Power lines killing the last remaining Great Indian Bustards in India
On Dec. 9, researchers discovered the remains of an extremely rare bird in India’s Thar Desert, in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. All that remained was a pile of bones, and large, brown feathers, fluttering beneath a power line. The dead bird, one of the last remaining wild individuals of the critically endangered great Indian […]
POLL: Should Arab sheikhs be allowed to hunt bustards?
One of Pakistan’s four provinces has banned Arab sheikhs from hunting a protected species of bird, defying Islamabad’s longstanding policy of giving hunting licences to key regional allies. Swaths of habitat used in the winter by the migratory houbara bustard are allocated in blocks to the some of the most senior people in the United […]
Tracking one of the world’s last Great Indian Bustards to save the species
Bilal Habib is closely tracking the flight of a bird. Six times a day he gets its location, within a few hundred feet, through a GPS monitoring device attached to its body. One of the last members of its species, this Great Indian Bustard is part of the latest effort to save its kind from […]
Wildlife Photography – Ethics and Conservation Issues?
Nature photography, more in its role as a hobby than a full-time profession has fascinated numerous individuals to take it up seriously. It has done so by culturing a spirit of discovery and fascination for wildlife and spaces. Wildlife photography in particular is a compelling genre in terms of the personal satisfaction it evokes. Quite […]
Saving the Raja of India’s grasslands: new efforts to conserve the Critically Endangered Great Indian Bustard
The Great Indian Bustard, one of India’s iconic birds, once ranged across most of the Indian subcontinent. Due to a variety of factors, however, the Great Indian Bustard is also now India’s rarest bird and faces imminent extinction. The following is an interview with Ramki Sreenivasan, co-founder of Conservation India, a group that recently petitioned […]