Overview
- The month-old Great Indian Bustard chick in Kutch, which hatched March 26 in Naliya through an egg transfer, has not been found for three to four days as state and Wildlife Institute of India teams keep searching.
- Forest officials say the bird may have been taken by predators after it moved beyond the monitored zone.
- The “jumpstart” method places a fertile egg from a breeding center into a wild female’s nest to cut egg loss, but it does not remove the high risk to chicks after they hatch.
- Only about 40% of laid eggs hatch, and roughly 60% of hatched chicks die before two months, according to the Kutch forest department.
- Despite the setback, Gujarat will keep sourcing eggs from Rajasthan, track two tagged females to locate future nests, and expand habitat work such as fencing fixes, predator control, invasive plant removal, and water management.