Heightened tensions along the India-Pakistan border have prompted urgent conservation efforts to protect one of India’s rarest birds — the Great Indian Bustard.
In a swift response to nearby shelling and drone activity from across the border, wildlife officials relocated nine newly hatched chicks from a conservation facility in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
After Pakistani Army resorted to artillery fire on May 10, officials decided to transfer nine out of the 18 chicks born this year to a safer site nearly 500 kilometers away in Arwar village, Ajmer district.
These birds, extremely sensitive to loud noises and vibrations, are particularly at risk during their early life stages.
The Ramdevra Conservation Centre — located just a few kilometers from the Indo-Pakistani border — is home to India’s only active Great Indian Bustard recovery program.
The transfer involved specially designed vehicles equipped with padded compartments and sand-lined bases to minimise stress during the 10-hour journey.
"The chicks, ranging in age from five to 28 days, were safely moved using soft-suspension transport to reduce trauma," Sutirtha Dutta, a senior scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India, told The Times Of India (TOI).
Some of the relocated chicks had been hatched via artificial incubation — part of an ongoing initiative to save the critically endangered species, whose population in the wild is estimated to be fewer than 130.
"The operation went smoothly. All chicks are doing well and have adjusted to their new environment," said Arijit Banerjee, head of Rajasthan’s Forest Force told TOI.