Lok Sabha Question No. 3531 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-11
Subject: Conservation Breeding Efforts for Great Indian Bustard
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Dushyant Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3531

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2025

## Conservation Breeding Efforts for Great Indian Bustard

## 3531.  SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the steps taken by the Government for the conservation and protection of the Great Indian Bustard, particularly in Rajasthan, and the manner in which its listing in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 contribute to its protection from hunting;
- (b) whether the Government has designated important habitats of the Great Indian Bustard;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the role of National Parks and Sanctuaries in the species' conservation efforts and the manner in  which  the  "Species  Recovery  Programme"  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme Development of Wildlife Habitats assist in this initiative;
- (e) the  details  of  conservation  breeding  efforts  undertaken  to  protect  the  Great  Indian Bustard, including the collaboration between the Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra Forest Departments and the Wildlife Institute of India in this regard; and
- (f) the details of results achieved through the said breeding programme along with its goal for building a captive population?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) to (f) The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 empowers the State Governments and Union Territory Governments for declaration of National Parks and Sanctuaries for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wild life or its environment.   The Act  also  mandates  that  the  Chief  Wild  Life  Warden  manage  and  protect  all Sanctuaries and National parks in accordance with management plan and take all such  measures  for  ensuring  the  security  of  wild  animals  in  the  Sanctuary  or National Park.

Under the Species Recovery Programme component of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme 'Development of Wildlife Habitats', financial assistance is provided to the State  Governments  and  Union  Territory  Governments  for  activities  aimed  at focused conservation of identified species. Great Indian Bustard is one of the 24 species identified for taking up focused conservation actions.

The important steps taken for protection of Great Indian Bustard, including in the State of Rajasthan are as follows:

- i. The  Great  Indian  Bustard  is  listed  in  Schedule-I  of  the  Wild  Life (Protection)  Act,  1972,  thereby  according  it  the  highest  degree  of  legal protection from hunting. Section 9 of the Act provides that no person shall hunt any wild animal specified in Schedule I.
- ii. Habitats crucial for conservation have been designated as Protected Areas. For example Desert National Park in Rajasthan. Similarly, Protected Areas have  also  been  declared  in  the  States  of  Gujarat,  Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
- iii. Government  of  India  had  launched  the  Bustard  Recovery  Programme 'Habitat Improvement  and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard'  in  2016  -  an  initiative  of  conservation  breeding  and  researchguided in-situ conservation for the GIB and Lesser Florican that is being implemented in collaboration with Rajasthan Forest Department.
- iv. Conservation breeding of the Great Indian Bustard has been undertaken in collaboration with Forest Departments and technical support of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun with the aim of building a captive population of the species for release in the wild and promoting in-situ conservation of the species.
- v. Two conservation breeding centers have been established at Sam (2019) and Ramdevra (2022) in Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan, that are functional. The  program  has  developed  techniques  for  artificial  hatching,  chick rearing, bustard husbandry, captive breeding. The GIB has been bred in captivity successfully for the first time under this program.

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