Current Affairs · · GS3 · Environment

Captive-bred Great Indian Bustards released into the wild

Two captive-bred male Great Indian Bustards were released into Desert National Park, Jaisalmer, on 4 October 2026, the first step in rewilding the critically endangered bird. Captive numbers have grown, but survival in the wild depends on restoring grasslands and preventing deaths from power lines. The case shows the limits of conserving species within isolated protected areas.

Event date:

REq1
  1. Context1 / 4
    • On 4 October 2026, the Union Environment Minister released two captive-bred male Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) into the wild at Sam, in Desert National Park, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
    • It marks the move from captive breeding to reintroduction. Officials say the release protocol will be refined as these birds are monitored.
    • The release has sharpened a wider argument: that conservation confined to "islands" of protected land cannot succeed when habitats are fragmented by roads, power lines and farming.
  2. Key highlights2 / 4

    The table below gives the captive programme's status, as given by the Environment Ministry.

    IndicatorFigure
    Birds held at the Sam and Ramdevra centres97
    Hatched from eggs collected in the wild40
    Bred in captivity57
    Kept for continued breeding86
    Set aside for release11, of which 2 released on 4 October
    Chicks produced in captivity24 in 2025, 29 in 2026
    • Habitat work. The Rajasthan Forest Department has fenced about 200 sq km of grassland enclosures inside Desert National Park.
    • The "jumpstart" technique. Eggs laid in captivity are placed in wild nests, to be hatched and reared by wild birds. It has produced chicks in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
    • The main threat. GIBs are heavy and have poor frontal vision, so they often fail to see overhead power lines in time and die in collisions.
    • The legal response. The Supreme Court in April 2021 restricted overhead lines across about 99,000 sq km of GIB habitat. In March 2024 it recalled that blanket approach as unworkable and set up an expert committee. In December 2025 it accepted the committee's framework of revised priority areas, power corridors, and time-bound undergrounding or rerouting of lines.
  3. Key concepts3 / 4

    1. What is the Great Indian Bustard?

    A large, ground-dwelling bird of dry grasslands and scrub, found mainly in Rajasthan, with small numbers in Gujarat and a few other States. It is among the heaviest flying birds, and stands about a metre tall.

    Its listings and range are as follows.

    ItemDetail
    IUCN Red ListCritically Endangered
    Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972Schedule I, the highest protection
    Main strongholdThe Thar desert, Rajasthan

    2. What is the difference between ex-situ and in-situ conservation?

    Ex-situ conservation protects a species outside its natural habitat, such as in a breeding centre. In-situ conservation protects it in the wild, along with its habitat. Breeding can rebuild numbers, but a bird released into a landscape full of power lines meets the same threat that drove the decline. Ex-situ is the hospital; in-situ is the home it must return to.

    3. Why are grasslands at risk?

    Grasslands, scrub and fallow land are often classed as "wastelands" and allotted to plantations, solar parks or farming. They are in fact distinct ecosystems with their own species, including the GIB and other open-country birds.

    4. What is the "conservation islands" problem?

    Protected areas cut off by roads, railways, power lines and farms become isolated patches. Animals cannot move between them, which limits breeding and the flow of genes, and pushes wildlife into conflict with people at the edges.

  4. Way forward4 / 4

    These are suggested measures, not approved policy.

    • Treat the landscape as the unit, linking protected areas, corridors, grasslands, wetlands and community lands.
    • Pair breeding with habitat restoration, releasing birds only where the landscape can support them.
    • Build wildlife needs into infrastructure planning, using undergrounding, rerouting and bird diverters in critical GIB areas.
    • Reclassify grasslands as ecosystems in land records and in policy, rather than as wasteland.
    • Involve communities through compensation and early-warning systems where wildlife and people share land.
    • Monitor biodiversity regularly, through surveys and citizen science.

Sources

Syllabus

PaperSubjectSub-topic
GS3EnvironmentConservation; environmental impact of infrastructure; ex-situ and in-situ conservation
PrelimsEnvironmentSpecies in news; IUCN Red List; Wild Life (Protection) Act schedules; protected areas

Topics

BiodiversityEcology and EcosystemEnvironmental Laws, Conventions and PoliciesProtected Areas and ConservationSpecies

Related previous-year questions

Asked in earlier UPSC Prelims papers on this topic. Answer, then check.

  1. UPSC Prelims 2020 · Environment and Ecology · Protected Areas and Conservation

    With reference to India's Desert National Park, which of the following statements are correct? 1. It is spread over two districts. 2. There is no human habitation inside the Park. 3. It is one of the natural habitats of Great Indian Bustard. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    1. 1 and 2 only
    2. 2 and 3 only
    3. 1 and 3 only
    4. 1, 2 and 3
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Desert National Park, Rajasthan, India, is situated in the west Indian state of Rajasthan near the towns of Jaisalmer and Barmer. This is one of the largest national parks, covering an area of 3162 km². Statement 1 – CORRECT: The Desert National Park (DNP) covers an area of 3162 km² of which 1900 km² is in Jaisalmer district and remaining 1262 km² is in Barmer district of Rajasthan State. Hence it is spread over two districts. Hence statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 – INCORRECT: The Thar desert is the most thickly populated desert in the world with an average density of 83 persons per sq km. There IS human habitation inside and around the park. Hence statement 2 is not correct. Statement 3 – CORRECT: The Desert National Park is an excellent example of the ecosystem of the Thar Desert and is one of the natural habitats of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB). Hence statement 3 is correct. Correct statements: 1 and 3 → Option (c).

    Difficulty: medium · statement

    Open this question on its own page, with the full explanation →

Practice questions

  1. With reference to the Great Indian Bustard, consider the following statements: 1. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. 2. It is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. 3. Its main stronghold is the wetlands of the Western Ghats. Which of the statements given above are correct?

    1. 1 and 2 only
    2. 2 and 3 only
    3. 1 and 3 only
    4. 1, 2 and 3
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the Great Indian Bustard is a bird of dry open country, not wetlands or forest, and its stronghold is the Thar desert of Rajasthan, with small numbers in Gujarat and a few other States.

    Difficulty: easy · statement

  2. Consider the following statements: 1. Ex-situ conservation protects a species outside its natural habitat. 2. Collision with overhead power lines is a major cause of Great Indian Bustard deaths. 3. Captive breeding alone can secure a species' recovery without habitat protection. Which of the statements given above are correct?

    1. 1 and 2 only
    2. 2 and 3 only
    3. 1 and 3 only
    4. 1, 2 and 3
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: a bird released from a breeding centre returns to the same landscape that caused the decline, so captive breeding rebuilds numbers only if the habitat it is released into is also made safe.

    Difficulty: medium · statement

Mains practice

Answer-writing practice on this article. Attempt it first, then open the hints.

  1. GS3 · 250 words

    Captive breeding can rebuild numbers but cannot replace habitat conservation. Discuss with reference to the Great Indian Bustard.

    Show hints
    1. Set out what conservation breeding has achieved, from eggs collected in the wild to birds now bred in captivity and the first releases.
    2. Explain why the released bird meets an unchanged landscape, with power-line collision as the proximate cause of death.
    3. Trace the courts’ changing approach, from a blanket restriction on overhead lines to an expert committee and a framework of priority areas and time-bound undergrounding.
    4. Cover habitat restoration, including fenced grassland enclosures, and why release sites must be chosen for what the landscape can support.
    5. Conclude on landscape-level planning, arguing that ex-situ effort is wasted unless in-situ conditions change.
  2. GS3 · 250 words

    "Grasslands are treated as wastelands in Indian land policy." Examine the consequences for biodiversity and suggest reforms.

    Show hints
    1. Explain the classification itself, under which grassland, scrub and fallow land are recorded as wasteland and made available for other uses.
    2. Show the ecological cost, since open country supports its own assemblage of species that forest-centred conservation does not protect.
    3. Use competing land uses, including plantations, solar parks and cultivation, to show how the category drives allocation decisions.
    4. Link fragmentation to the isolation of protected areas, and to the loss of movement between them.
    5. Conclude on reform: recording grasslands as ecosystems in land records, and involving the communities that use them.