A Great Indian Bustard (GIB) chick has been sighted in the wild in Gujarat for the first time in 10 years, thanks to a novel approach that holds out hope for the conservation of one of the most endangered bird species, Union environment, forest and climate change minister Bhupender Yadav announced on Saturday. The breeding effort in Gujarat’s Kutch was planned for nearly a year. (Sourced)

In a post on X, Yadav said his ministry, the state forest departments of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and the Wildlife Institute of India coordinated the jump-start approach. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned Project GIB in 2011 to conserve the species in its natural habitat, including Gujarat, and it was launched in 2016.

Yadav said the number of birds in conservation breeding centres, as a result, at Sam and Ramdevra in Rajasthan have reached 73. He added that with the addition of five new chicks this season, they are moving ahead towards the re-wilding of birds in the near future.

Yadav said a captive-bred GIB egg from Rajasthan was transported by road over 19 hours in a hand held portable incubator and was replaced in a nest on March 22 in a major trans state conservation effort. He added a female GIB completed incubating the egg and hatched it on March 26. “The field monitoring team found the young chick being reared by its foster mother,” said Yadav.

The captive bred fertile egg was placed in the wild female GIB’s nest in Kutch under the jump start conservation approach. The GIB tagged in August 2025 laid an infertile egg in Kutch, as Gujarat had lost all its male GIBs. Forest officials said only four female GIBs are believed to be in the wild in Gujarat.

The breeding effort was planned for nearly a year. It is the first inter-state jump start initiative for the GIB in the country. The egg was transported from Sam in Rajasthan to Naliya in Kutch, 770 km away, through a halt-free corridor to ensure stable incubation conditions.

The jump start approach was developed under the Project GIB to address high egg predation in the wild. Under this method, teams identify a nest of a wild female that has laid an infertile egg and replace it with a fertile egg. The chick then hatches and is raised in the wild, allowing it to develop natural behaviour and survival skills. It avoids the stage when eggs face the highest risk of predation. A remote CCTV system is used to monitor the nest throughout the incubation period.

The approach differs from captive rearing followed by release, as the chick grows entirely in the wild under the care of a wild female. The first successful use of this technique means the chick is now being raised in the grasslands of Kutch.

Some forest officials had proposed bringing a male GIB from Rajasthan to breed with Gujarat’s remaining females. Conservationists opposed the move, saying that shifting a bird from its native habitat could affect its health and make breeding unsuccessful.

The Kutch GIB sanctuary is spread over about 2 square km. The larger bustard habitat in Kutch extends across nearly 2,000 square km of grasslands. The region is also part of the Central Asian Flyway and hosts many migratory bird species during winter. Abdasa is the only place in India where three bustard species—the GIB, Asian Houbara, and Lesser Florican—can be seen in the same landscape in different seasons.

The GIB named Gibi was the mascot for the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals in Gandhinagar in February 2020.

Gujarat forest and environment minister Arjun Modhwadia said a GIB has been sighted in Gujarat after a decade and called it a major milestone under the project Modi envisioned in 2011. He hailed the remarkable conservation effort of Rajasthan and Gujarat’s teams. Modhwadia said a foster mother is taking care of the chick, calling it a hopeful step towards saving the critically endangered species.