Satellite tagging for Great Indian Bustard

GNN | Jun 27, 2017, 4:30 PM IST|

Ahmedabad, May 27. The Wildlife Institute of India, an autonomous body functioning under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, Government of India is doing satellite tagging of two of the Great Indian Bustards in Gujarat. The move is aimed at document the movement patterns of this critically endangered bird and will greatly help to understand their behaviour and long term conservation efforts both by the WII and the Gujarat Forest Department.
GNN learns this is for the first time that the Great Indian Bustard is being tagged in Gujarat. Earlier such satellite tagging was done in Gujarat’s southern neighbour Maharashtra. The satellite tagging will study and document the movement of the birds both within Gujarat and cross border movement.
Unfortunately only 20 Great Indian Bustards are left in the northwest desert district of Kutch. Also these birds are suspected to move across the border into Pakistan at periodic intervals. However, most sightings of this critically endangered species is that of that dead birds.
"There are occasional sightings of the birds in Pakistan,” Yadvendradev Jhala, WII Researcher & Scientist of Animal Ecology & Conservation Biology told ToI. So far, 46 sightings of the bird have been reported in Pakistan of which 43 were of dead birds. Importantly, satellite tracking of the birds will help to document and establish whether the birds found in Pakistan belong to the same group or population that is in India.
According to Jhala, "The birds are sighted occasionally and are not resident birds there. The tagging will help researchers to pinpoint the period when the birds cross over to Pakistan, and how long they stay there." Also the tagging will give an exact idea of where these birds move after venturing out of the breeding area.
GK Sinha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) is also very hopeful about the satellite tagging."The study will help us prepare a long-term conservation strategy for the GIB, based on the data received about the movement of the birds," Sinha told ToI. The Gujarat Government has sanctioned 18 times more land than was previously given, for protecting the Great Indian Bustard.
Saving the Great Indian Bustard is of paramount importance as only 30 birds are left in the four states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Similarly movement pattern of the birds within the state needs to be monitored and studied as there are multiple local threats to their survival. Take the case of development taking place in the Naliya region of Kutch. High tension power lines are coming up all over. These lines are like death lines for the birds.
Observers believe the satellite tagging was an excellent use of available technology.