Great Indian Bustard

Geography glossary

Also called: Godawan · Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 2 "Forest and Wildlife Resources"

Meaning

The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), also called the godawan, is one of the world's heaviest flying birds. It lives on the ground in dry, open grasslands. It is Critically Endangered, and fewer than 150 survive, mostly in the Desert National Park, Rajasthan.

It matters because it shows the clash between clean energy and conservation. Power lines from solar and wind farms in the Thar are killing it. This led to the Supreme Court case M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India.

Explanation

What kind of bird it is

  • It is a grassland species: an animal that needs open, dry grasslands to live and breed.
  • It is very heavy, so it is one of the heaviest birds that can still fly.
  • IUCN Red List is the global list of threatened species. Its levels, from least to most danger, are Vulnerable → Endangered → Critically Endangered. The GIB is at the top level, Critically Endangered.
  • It is Rajasthan's state bird.
  • It has full or partial legal protection in India. This means hunting it and trading it are banned across India or in parts of its range.

Why power lines kill it (cause → process → result)

  • Cause: new power lines across its home
  • Solar and wind farms have been built in the Thar desert.

  • High-voltage overhead lines from these farms now cross the GIB's habitat.

  • Process: the bird cannot avoid the wires

  • The GIB has poor forward vision, so it does not see wires ahead in time.

  • It is heavy, so it cannot turn quickly in flight.

  • Result: deaths from collisions

  • Birds fly into the lines and die.
  • This is the main threat to the species today.

How India is trying to save it

  • Supreme Court, M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India
  • 2021: the Court ordered that power lines in GIB areas be put underground or fitted with bird diverters (bright discs hung on wires so birds can see them).
  • 2024: the Court changed these orders. Underground lines were not practical everywhere, and India also needs clean energy. It set up an expert committee to find a balance.

  • In the same case, the Court recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

  • Captive breeding

  • Captive breeding means raising birds in protected centres instead of the wild.
  • Centres in Jaisalmer breed GIBs as a back-up population. If wild birds die out, this group can be used to bring them back.

Where it occurs

  • Main stronghold: Desert National Park, spread over Jaisalmer and Barmer districts, Rajasthan.
  • Wider landscape: the dry grasslands of the Thar desert, where the solar and wind farms and their power lines are also being built.
  • Captive breeding: centres in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
  • Risk of one home: most of the surviving birds live in this one desert park. One disease, fire or other disaster there could wipe out most of the species.

Don't confuse with

  • Blackbuck: also a protected animal of Rajasthan's open plains and grasslands, but it is an antelope, not a bird. The Bishnoi community protects it. (Trap: the chinkara is the Indian gazelle, a different animal.)
  • Red panda / Hangul: these are state animals (Sikkim and J&K). The GIB is a state bird (Rajasthan).
  • Vultures: these birds also crashed, but the cause was diclofenac (a cattle painkiller), not power lines.
  • Gharial: also Critically Endangered and also kept going by captive breeding, but it is a fish-eating river reptile of the Chambal, not a desert grassland bird.

Prelims Hooks

  • GIB = godawan = Rajasthan's state bird. Stronghold: Desert NP (Jaisalmer–Barmer).
  • IUCN status: Critically Endangered. Fewer than 150 left.
  • Main threat: collisions with overhead power lines from solar and wind projects in the Thar. The bird has poor forward vision and cannot turn quickly.
  • Case: M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India. 2021 = lines underground or fitted with bird diverters. 2024 = orders changed, expert committee set up.
  • Same 2024 judgment: recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.
  • Trap: the GIB is one of the world's heaviest flying birds. It is not flightless, and its captive breeding centres are in Jaisalmer.

Mains Points

  • Development vs. conservation (GS-III):
  • Problem: India needs solar and wind power in the Thar for its clean-energy targets, but the power lines kill a bird close to extinction.
  • Response: the Supreme Court ordered underground lines in 2021, then softened the order in 2024 and set up an expert committee.

  • Lesson: green energy also needs careful planning. Line routes, bird diverters and protected zones must be planned around wildlife habitat.

  • Danger of one stronghold:

  • Most GIBs live in one desert park, just as lions live only in Gir and most rhinos in Kaziranga.
  • One epidemic, fire or disaster could destroy most of them.

  • Captive breeding in Jaisalmer gives a back-up population. Strict legal protection and protecting the grasslands must support it.

  • Climate rights and wildlife law:

  • The M.K. Ranjitsinh case linked species protection with the right against climate change harms (Articles 14 and 21).
  • This means saving a species and cutting carbon emissions are both legal duties. Policy has to weigh one against the other instead of choosing only one.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1Class 10, Ch 2 "Forest and Wildlife Resources" (primary)