In the vast, wind-swept grasslands of Kutch, hope is walking on two fragile legs.

A week-old chick of the Great Indian Bustard, one of India’s most critically endangered birds, is being raised in the wild, marking a rare and significant breakthrough for conservationists working to save the species from extinction.

“The region has not seen a Great Indian Bustard chick in over a decade. This is the first time we’ve attempted a ‘jump start’ like this in the wild,” says IFS officer Dheeraj Mittal, Conservator of Forests, Kutch, Government of Gujarat. “A fertile egg was swapped with an infertile one in a natural nest. The egg hatched successfully, and the mother has accepted the chick.”

For a species that hasn’t recorded a successful chick birth in the wild for over 10 years, this moment is nothing short of extraordinary.

Small intervention, big shift

The idea behind the intervention was both simple and bold, working with nature rather than against it.

With wild populations dwindling and no viable mating pairs left in Gujarat, conservationists had little chance of obtaining a fertile egg in the wild. In fact, only three female Great Indian Bustards survive in the grasslands of Kutch.

To work around this, a fertile egg reared under Project Great Indian Bustard at a captive breeding facility in Rajasthan was transported over 770 km by road, from Sam to........

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