Birds

13 Sep 2026 · Prelims

The Great Indian Bustard

• The Great Indian Bustard, or GIB (Ardeotis nigriceps), is a large ground dwelling grassland bird.
• It is Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
• It is on Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the list that carries the strictest protection.
• It lives mainly in the Thar, including Desert National Park in Rajasthan, with a surviving population in the Kachchh grassland of Gujarat.
• Collision with power lines is its best known threat, and the invasive Prosopis juliflora takes over the grassland it needs.
• Captive bred birds are raised under a recovery programme run with the Wildlife Institute of India, and the Kachchh birds now have a Gujarat action plan of their own.

14 Sep 2026 · 13 Sep 2026 · Prelims

Kachchh Soft Release Centre

A bird raised in an enclosure cannot be turned loose into the desert on the day it is ready, so it is held first in the country it will live in.

• The Union Environment Minister opened the Soft Release Centre in Kachchh in September 2026.
• It will acclimatise captive bred birds before they are released.
• The Gujarat Action Plan for GIB Conservation it serves, released at Bhuj, aims at a minimum viable population of more than 30 birds in Kachchh.

PIB, 14 Sep 2026: Union Environment Minister visits Great Indian Bustard Habitat in Kachchh, Gujarat; Inaugurates GIB Soft Release Centre, Sayara Van Kavach and reviews Mangrove Plantation Efforts (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 13 Sep 2026: Shri Bhupender Yadav reviews progress of Great Indian Bustard Conservation, Grassland Restoration and Project Cheetah at Bhuj; Releases Gujarat Action Plan for GIB Conservation (opens in a new tab)

6 Sep 2026 · Prelims

India's vultures

• The vultures hit hardest in India are the three Gyps species, the White-rumped, the Long-billed and the Slender-billed.
• All three are Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
• The Red-headed vulture is also Critically Endangered, and the Egyptian vulture is Endangered.
• They are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Act's strictest protection.
• They nest on cliffs and on trees across India's plains and peninsula.
• Diclofenac in the carcasses of treated cattle causes kidney failure in Gyps vultures, and is why the three are where they are.
• The Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore in Haryana breeds all three with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

6 Sep 2026 · Prelims

Diclofenac and the drug bans

Keeping these drugs out of cattle is the whole of the cure, which is why the ban has had to widen beyond the one drug that caused the crash.

• Veterinary diclofenac was banned in 2006, and aceclofenac and ketoprofen followed in 2023.
• Vulture Safe Zones keep such drugs out of an area, so that a bird released there does not meet them again.

6 Sep 2026 · Prelims

Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore

International Vulture Awareness Day was marked at Panchkula, next door to the centre that holds the birds the recovery is being built from.

• The Union Environment Minister opened a national workshop there on India's vultures.
• Its theme, From Crisis to Recovery, is the pairing the recovery needs: birds bred in captivity, and safe country to put them back into.

PIB, 6 Sep 2026: Union Environment Minister leads International Vulture Awareness Day 2026 celebrations and inaugurates National Workshop themed 'From Crisis to Recovery – Conserving India's Vultures', at Panchkula (opens in a new tab)