Written by PPL Newsroom• October 2, 2026• 4:36 am• Nature & Wildlife

Captive-bred Great Indian Bustards set for first release into Thar Desert

Ten birds trained in a rewilding tunnel are due to be freed in Jaisalmer on 3 and 4 October, as a new assessment puts the wild population near 130.

Rajasthan is preparing to release captive-bred Great Indian Bustards into the Thar Desert for the first time. According to a 26 September report in the Free Press Journal, releases are scheduled for 3 October at Ramdevra and 4 October in the Sudasari area of Desert National Park, Jaisalmer. For a bird that survives in only a few places, it is the first test of whether breeding centres can help rebuild a wild population.

The numbers behind the release

The Union Environment Ministry recently released the first official assessment of the species in seven years, according to a summary of the findings. Carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) with the Rajasthan Forest Department, it estimates about 130 birds, give or take 21. That suggests numbers have steadied between roughly 110 and 150, after decades of decline. The same summary says the birds now occupy only 16 per cent of their potential historical habitat in the Thar.

In 1969 the wild population was around 1,260, according to ThePrint. A drop to about 150 across five states followed. The captive population is growing much faster. ThePrint reported in March that the two breeding centres held 70 birds, up from 16 four years earlier. A July report quoted a forest official saying the Ramdevra and Sam centres together now hold 98.

Ten healthy birds have finished months of training in a purpose-built rewilding tunnel and are ready for release, officials told the Free Press Journal. WII scientists will make a final technical assessment to decide how many go in the first phase. The birds were first meant for Gujarat’s Kutch region, but the plan changed after expert consultations and they will now return to the Thar.

How the birds are being prepared

The Ramdevra tunnel is designed to cut human contact. Food is provided without the birds seeing people, and staff watch them by CCTV, according to a July report. Chicks stay inside for nearly four months before release. The released birds will be monitored scientifically to see how well they survive and adapt, the Free Press Journal reported.

Breeding techniques have advanced too. In March, ThePrint reported two chicks hatching at the Sam centre, one from natural mating and one through artificial insemination. In Gujarat, a fertilised egg was carried from a Rajasthan breeding centre to Kutch in a portable incubator over a 19-hour road journey. The chick hatched on 26 March, the first in the area in nearly a decade. A later report in Aryan Age said that effort ended in suspected predation, a reminder of how fragile these early gains are.

What this means for India

The Great Indian Bustard is Rajasthan’s state bird and a flagship species of India’s grasslands. The release will show whether captive breeding can add birds to the wild. Threats remain: the bird has poor frontal vision, so overhead power lines are dangerous, and grasslands are often classed as “wastelands” and diverted to other uses. The assessment notes that wind and solar expansion in the Thar adds to the pressure. The birds’ fate will depend on habitat and power-line safety as much as on breeding.

What happens next

The Union Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav, and forest officials and experts from India and abroad are expected at the release, according to the Free Press Journal. The first months after release will matter most. Teams will track whether the birds feed, avoid predators and stay clear of power lines. Their nests are simple hollows on the ground, and the assessment flagged rising numbers of free-ranging dogs and feral pigs.

Project Great Indian Bustard began in 2018 as a joint effort of the Environment Ministry, WII and the Rajasthan Forest Department, according to Drishti IAS. The release brings it to a new stage, after captive breeding and chick-rearing.