Where is the great Indian bustard found?

It survives mainly in Rajasthan, in three pockets named by CMS: Desert National Park, Mohangarh and the Pokhran-Ramdevra area. A Wildlife Institute of India study cited by PIB in 2022 counted around 150 birds, about 128 of them in Rajasthan. Fewer than 10 birds each remained in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Which sanctuary is famous for the great Indian bustard?

Desert National Park near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, is the best-known site. Two captive-bred males were released at Sam inside the park in October 2026. Other protected areas created for the bird include the Jawaharlal Nehru Bustard Sanctuary around Nannaj in Maharashtra and Rollapadu in Andhra Pradesh, though PIB's 2022 figures put fewer than 10 birds in each of those states.

What is the jumpstart approach for great Indian bustards?

In this method a fertile egg laid in a breeding centre replaces an egg in a wild nest. The wild female then incubates it and raises the chick. PIB reported in October 2026 that this produced six chicks in Rajasthan and two in Gujarat. In March 2026 it gave Kutch its first bustard chick in a decade.

Is the great Indian bustard protected by law in India?

Yes. A PIB release of 27 March 2023 says it is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the list with the strongest protection from hunting. Since February 2020 it has also been on Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species, which supports conservation across borders.

Great Indian Bustard: Habitat, Sanctuaries and Why It Is Critically Endangered

Q: Why is the great Indian bustard critically endangered?

Its numbers are tiny and have crashed. A PIB release of February 2020 says the population fell by 90% within 50 years. In India the main threats are loss of grassland and collisions with power lines, while hunting is the main danger in Pakistan. Wind turbines, solar plants, heavy grazing and disturbance during breeding add to the pressure.

The great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is a large, long-legged ground bird of the dry grasslands of western India. Very few remain in the wild, and most live in Rajasthan. This guide covers how to recognise it, where it lives, which sanctuaries protect it and why it is Critically Endangered.

The bustard is one of the threatened birds featured in our guide to animal species and their role in ecosystems. It also appears in our list of famous bird species around the world. This page holds the detail: identification, habitat, sanctuaries, threats and the recovery programme.

How do you identify a great Indian bustard?

Look for a large, long-legged bird walking slowly through dry, open grassland. CMS describes the species as a grassland specialist, so search open grassland rather than forest. It belongs to the bustard family of ground birds of open country. Another Indian bustard, the lesser florican, is named alongside it in PIB releases on breeding centres.

The best clue is place. A WII study cited by PIB in 2022 found about 128 of India’s roughly 150 birds in Rajasthan.

Where does the great Indian bustard live?

The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) calls the bustard a grassland specialist of arid regions. Arid means very dry. It shares this open habitat with the Indian spiny-tailed lizard, chinkara, desert fox and desert cat. For how such habitats work, read our explainer on the grassland ecosystem.

Grassland near Nannaj in Maharashtra gives a southern example. The Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) factsheet describes undulating Deccan plateau country. Its natural vegetation is classed as southern tropical thorn forest and tropical grassland, though much of it has disappeared.

How has its range shrunk?

A CMS Concerted Action adopted in February 2020 describes the bird’s past range. It once spread over about half of India, across eleven states from Punjab to Tamil Nadu and from Gujarat to Orissa. It also lived in eastern Pakistan. The same document says its range has shrunk by 90%.

CMS listed its current range in 2020 as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with sporadic sightings in Pakistan. Within Rajasthan, CMS names three main pockets: Desert National Park, Mohangarh and the Pokhran-Ramdevra area.

A Wildlife Institute of India study, quoted in a PIB release of March 2022, counted around 150 birds across India. About 128 were in Rajasthan. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had fewer than 10 birds each.

Which sanctuaries protect the great Indian bustard?

A PIB release of March 2023 says important bustard habitats have been made national parks or sanctuaries. The best known are:

Protected area	State	Notes
Desert National Park	Rajasthan	Core habitat; breeding centre at Sam; birds released here in 2026 (PIB)
Jawaharlal Nehru Bustard Sanctuary (Nannaj area)	Maharashtra	Spans Solapur and Ahmednagar districts; Nannaj lies about 20 km north of Solapur (KBA factsheet)
Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary	Andhra Pradesh	Declared by the state forest department after a bustard flock was found in July 1984 (KBA factsheet)

The KBA factsheet warns that most of the huge Maharashtra sanctuary is farmland and villages, so only small grassland plots suit the bird. CMS adds that most surviving bustards are found outside protected areas. A sanctuary on paper does not always keep a species alive. To compare the bustard with other threatened Indian species, see our list of endangered animals in India.

What does the great Indian bustard eat and how does it behave?

The bustard is generally described as feeding on the ground as it walks through grass and scrub, taking small animals such as insects as well as plant food.

PIB’s February 2020 release says the bird crosses borders, which exposes it to hunting in the India-Pakistan border area. One CMS activity is to track birds with satellite and GPS tags to learn their movements and home ranges.

How does the great Indian bustard breed?

The KBA factsheet for Nannaj says bustards breed in the sanctuary’s grassland plots and nearby areas. More birds gather there during the monsoon. It also notes that Indian foxes and golden jackals are dangerous to eggs and unfledged chicks.

Because wild breeding is fragile, the 2020 CMS plan reports a recommendation for predator-proof breeding enclosures, kept free of consumptive human use in season. The Rajasthan Forest Department has since fenced around 200 km² of grassland inside Desert National Park. PIB’s October 2026 release says WII tracking studies show these enclosures are prime breeding habitat.

Why is the great Indian bustard critically endangered?

A PIB release of 4 October 2026 describes the great Indian bustard as critically endangered. The 2020 CMS Concerted Action states that the IUCN lists it as Critically Endangered, citing the IUCN Red List version 2019-1. To understand the category, read our guide to critically endangered animals.

The threats named by PIB and CMS are:

Power lines. PIB’s 2020 release names power-line collisions in India. CMS adds that power-line density in Rajasthan is rising with renewable energy, and warns of collision and electrocution.
Habitat loss. Grasslands and so-called wastelands are being turned into crop fields, CMS says.
Energy and development projects. CMS lists wind turbines, solar power plants and other development projects among causes of habitat destruction.
Grazing pressure. Heavy cattle grazing uses up the resources this habitat specialist needs.
Hunting. CMS reports hunting in Pakistan as a major threat there.

According to a PIB release of 2020, the population fell by 90% within 50 years.

What is being done to save the great Indian bustard?

Legal protection

The bird is in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (PIB, March 2023). In February 2020, India’s proposal to add it to Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species was accepted at the meeting held in Gandhinagar. The bustard was the mascot of that meeting, PIB noted in 2022.

The conservation breeding programme

PIB’s March 2026 release says Project GIB was formally launched in 2016. In March 2022 PIB reported a five-year outlay of Rs 33.85 crore, from National CAMPA funds, for habitat improvement and conservation breeding.

The work is run by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India. A PIB release of 4 October 2026 gives the latest figures:

The centres at Sam and Ramdevra held 97 birds, up from 73 in March 2026.
Of these, 40 came from wild-laid eggs and 57 were bred in captivity.
Captive breeding produced 24 live chicks in 2025 and 29 in 2026.
Eleven birds were marked for release, and two males were set free at Sam on 4 October 2026.
The “jumpstart” method produced six chicks in Rajasthan and two in Gujarat.

Power lines and the courts

The ministry set up a Task Force on eco-friendly ways to reduce harm from power transmission lines (PIB, 2022). The 2020 CMS plan proposes bird diverters on existing lines and underground cables for new lines near breeding sites. PIB’s October 2026 release says conservation actions follow a Supreme Court judgment, based on an expert committee’s advice.

Where can you see a great Indian bustard?

Your best chance is Desert National Park, near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. The two males freed in October 2026 were released at Sam, inside the park. The grasslands of Kutch in Gujarat hold only a handful of wild birds. PIB said in March 2026 that just three females survive there.

Visit only with forest department permission and a trained local guide. Keep well back during the breeding season, because disturbance is one of the threats CMS lists.