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RIGHT and BELOW The birds and other wildlife of the vast, arid Thar
desert must run a gauntlet of metalled roads, wind turbines, electrical
transmission lines and other urban infrastructure, all of which intrude into
once undisturbed lands.
extraordinary grasslands that once were. The undisturbed
kind in which bustards are known to display, nest, and bring
up their chicks. We spoke little, but with every move deeper
into the Thar, the impact of the anthropogenic threats that
had driven the GIB into ever-receding pockets hit me. How
could anyone possibly be surprised at the steep decline in
their population given the purposeful conversion of land use
in this fragile ecological wonderland?
After extensive surveys in the allotted grids of
diff erent districts, it was time for intensive surveys in grids
where bustard sightings had taken place. After a week of
independent surveying, all the teams were reunited.
Back at a forest chowki inside the Desert National Park,
volunteers and forest staff eagerly discussed their GIB
sightings over the previous week: “I saw nine today”, “I only
saw two”, “Just a desert cat and nothing else.” Our project
supervisor Bipin put things in perspective and reminded us to
not take any sighting lightly. “Two? That means you’ve seen
one per cent of its global population.”
Indeed, every bird lost is a critical blow to the species’
chances for survival and clearly the birds have a host of
severe threats to contend with. Ironically enough, one of the
most critical threats comes under the guise of ‘green’ energy.
GIBs are heavy birds that fl y closer to the ground and
possess relatively narrow fi elds of vision. This makes them
very susceptible to collision with power lines, an all-too-
frequent tragedy. In an eff ort to make ‘development’
accessible to remote rural populations whose unique cultures
SUTIRTHA DUTTASUTIRTHA DUTTAMore at http://www.sanctuaryasia.com | Species Focus