Captive breeding and soft-release programmes are often the last resort for critically endangered species. Critically evaluate with reference to Project GIB.

The Great Indian Bustard, a Critically Endangered grassland species, survives in only a few residual pockets of Rajasthan's Thar and Kachchh. With wild numbers too low for natural recovery, MoEFCC's "Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of GIB — An Integrated Approach" represents an ex-situ intervention of last resort — necessary, but not by itself sufficient.

Case for captive breeding and soft-release

• Insurance population: a main Conservation Breeding Centre at Kota and a satellite facility at Sam, Jaisalmer, have built a captive stock that reached 94 birds by 2026, hedging against a single catastrophic wild die-off [1][2].
• Scientific capacity: incubation, hatching and chick-rearing protocols, developed with technical support from the International Fund for Houbara Conservation, Abu Dhabi, now function reliably [1].
• Range restoration: the "Jumpstart Approach" — inter-state transfer from Rajasthan's programme — produced Gujarat's first GIB hatching in Kachchh in a decade, reviving a second population nucleus [3].

Limitations of an ex-situ-first strategy

• Habitat remains the binding constraint: soft-released birds return to grasslands still fragmented by power lines, infrastructure and land-use change; captive numbers cannot outpace in-situ mortality.
• Behavioural deficit: captive-reared chicks lack learned anti-predator and foraging behaviour, making survival after release uncertain.
• Narrow genetic base and high cost: a small founder stock risks inbreeding depression, while breeding centres absorb resources that in-situ grassland protection also needs.
• Institutional dependence: outcomes hinge on sustained Centre–state coordination, as in the WII–Gujarat Forest Department action plan targeting a minimum viable population of 30+ birds across 200–500 sq. km of secure habitat [4].

Captive breeding is therefore a bridge, not a destination: it buys time that only habitat security can convert into recovery. Coupling soft-release with grassland restoration, power-line mitigation and community stewardship — the integrated model now being extended to Kachchh — offers the most credible path, aligning Project GIB with the Wildlife (Protection) Act's Schedule I mandate and SDG 15's commitment to halting biodiversity loss.