Great Indian Bustard chick hatches in Gujarat after near-decade conservation effort

The MoEFCC announced in March 2026 the successful hatching of a Great Indian Bustard chick in Gujarat after nearly a decade, achieved by transporting an incubated egg roughly 770 kilometres from Rajasthan. The milestone reinforces India's integration of biodiversity and natural capital preservation into its broader ESG and sustainability framework.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced in March 2026 the first successful inter-state hatching of a Great Indian Bustard chick in Gujarat after nearly a decade. The trans-state effort involved Rajasthan, Gujarat, and the Wildlife Institute of India, deploying a novel "Jumpstart Approach" that transported an incubated egg approximately 770 kilometres from Rajasthan to a nesting site in Kutch via a halt-free corridor. The breakthrough builds on Project GIB, conceptualised in 2011 and formally launched in 2016 for habitat protection, captive breeding, and population recovery.

The critically endangered Great Indian Bustard is the central subject, with only three female birds remaining in the wild in Gujarat, making natural breeding unviable. Conservation institutions including the Wildlife Institute of India and the state forest authorities of Rajasthan and Gujarat are the implementing entities. The population in conservation breeding centres has now reached 73 birds. For policymakers and sustainability stakeholders, the case demonstrates how science-led, inter-state collaboration can support natural capital preservation and align with global biodiversity targets under international environmental agreements.

The government plans to initiate rewilding efforts, gradually reintroducing captive-bred birds into natural ecosystems to ensure long-term species survival and restore ecological balance. Stakeholders should monitor the rewilding programme and the growth of the breeding-centre population beyond the current 73 birds. For ESG-focused entities, the milestone signals a broader policy push to integrate biodiversity into sustainability strategy, reinforcing the importance of ecosystem resilience and nature-positive development as components of environmental due diligence and compliance with evolving global expectations.

Key figure — Egg transfer distance: approximately 770 kilometres from Rajasthan to Gujarat