First Great Indian Bustard chick born in Gujarat in decade via 770-km halt-free egg transfer from Rajasthan

Key facts

• The first Great Indian Bustard (GIB) chick in a decade hatched in Gujarat on 26 March after a 770-km road transfer of a 15-day-old fertile egg from Sam, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan to Naliya, Kutch, Gujarat.
• Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the birth as India’s first under the “jumpstart” method, where a captive-bred fertile egg replaced an infertile egg laid by a radio-tagged female GIB in Kutch.
• The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and state forest departments of Rajasthan and Gujarat coordinated the 19-hour journey using a handheld shock-proof portable incubator carried without halts.
• Gujarat now has only three surviving GIBs, all female; the national wild population is estimated at ~150, mostly in Rajasthan.
• WII and Rajasthan forest department run two captive-breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra, Jaisalmer, holding 73 birds; eggs here are incubated artificially and chicks bred for founder stock.
• A Supreme Court-appointed expert committee last July recommended the jumpstart egg-swapping technique; the Supreme Court accepted the recommendation in December.
• Scientists will monitor the chick intensively for the first four weeks against predators such as desert fox.