Jaipur: Union Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav on Saturday virtually inaugurated the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) Aviary and Soft Release Centre at Ramdevra in Jaisalmer and formally launched the rewilding of captive-bred birds into their natural habitat.
Yadav said the center's special conservation project for the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard had achieved a major milestone, with Rajasthan completing in eight years what similar conservation programs elsewhere in the world have taken two to three decades to accomplish.
He recalled that the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the International Houbara Conservation Fund entered into an agreement in 2018 for the conservation and captive breeding of the GIB.
“I especially congratulate our scientists, researchers, and forest officials of Rajasthan for bringing the program to this stage within eight years,” Yadav said, while also thanking Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma for the state government’s support.
The minister said an integrated reserve zone covering around 3,600 square kilometers of desert landscape has been created around the GIB conservation program to prevent habitat fragmentation. Measures have also been taken to check land degradation and improve the management of natural resources, grasslands, and GIB habitats. Areas have been made “dog-free zones” to protect GIB eggs from predators.
Under the program, chicks produced through artificial incubation are raised with minimal human intervention and exposed to natural conditions so that they can develop the ability to forage and survive independently before being released into the wild.
Yadav said the "Jump Start" program, being implemented between 2022 and 2026, has accelerated efforts to establish a viable captive-bred population for eventual release into the wild. A similar conservation facility has also been established at Naliya in Gujarat to support the ecological balance of the desert landscapes of Kutch and the Thar.
The minister said Rajasthan’s desert landscape could emerge as an important ecotourism destination for birdwatchers, much like Bharatpur, which is already a major birding and ecotourism hub.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma described the launch as a matter of pride for Rajasthan and said coordinated efforts by the center and state governments had helped bring the GIB, an integral part of the Thar’s natural and cultural heritage, back from the brink of extinction.
Sharma recalled that when Yadav had traveled from Bikaner to Ramdevra in 2021, the condition of the conservation program had raised doubts over whether the project would ever become a reality. “But the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the collective efforts of everyone involved have made it successful,” he said.
The chief minister said scientists, forest officials, and staff at every level had contributed to the success of the project. State Forest Minister Sanjay Sharma, who was also present at the event, said the state bird had finally received the recognition and protection it deserved.
The program is a joint initiative of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change; the Rajasthan Forest Department; and the Wildlife Institute of India, with technical support from the International Houbara Conservation Fund and financial assistance from the National CAMPA.
The captive-breeding program has also recorded significant progress. The GIB facilities at Sam and Ramdevra currently house 97 birds, including 40 originating from eggs collected from the wild and 57 bred in captivity. Of these, 86 birds are being retained for captive reproduction, while 11 have been identified for release into the wild.
The captive-reproduction program produced 24 surviving chicks in 2025 and another 29 in 2026, strengthening the prospects of building a sustainable population that can eventually survive independently in the Thar landscape.
