India Makes History: Becomes First Country to Breed Great Indian Bustard Through AI

Jaisalmer (The Uttam Hindu): A great news has come for the conservation of Rajasthan's state bird Great Indian Bustard. With the efforts of the state government, babies have been successfully produced through artificial insemination technique under the supervision of scientists at Sudasari Great Indian Breeding Center in Jaisalmer. With this achievement, India has become the first country in the world to produce baby birds of Great Indian Bustard through artificial insemination. This remarkable success has been achieved when a Great Indian Bustard was born through the same process 6 months ago. Now the hopes of saving this rare and endangered species have increased by giving birth to Great Indian Bustard through artificial insemination using AI technology.

According to the information received, after artificial insemination on March 16, the 8th Great Indian Bustard chick of this season has hatched from the egg laid by female Tony at the Conservation Breeding Center in Rajasthan. This is the second artificial insemination success for Project GIB. After this success, their number in the Great Indian Bustard Breeding Center has increased to 52, which is an encouraging sign towards conservation efforts. The Forest Department official (DFO) said that such an experiment was successful on the Tilor bird at the International Fund for Houbara Conservation Foundation, Abu Dhabi (IFHC). Scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) went there and learned this technique. After this, efforts were started to use this technique on the Great Indian Bustard.

For the first Great Indian Bustard born, a male Great Indian Bustard named Suda at the Ramdevra Great Indian Breeding Centre was trained for artificial mating. His sperm was collected and brought to the breeding centre at Sudasari and artificial insemination was done with a female Great Indian Bustard named Tony on 20 September 2024, after which a Great Indian Bustard was born. Now on Friday (11 April, 2025), the birth of another Great Indian Bustard through the same method has brought a wave of happiness among conservationists. This success is an important step towards the conservation of Great Indian Bustard.