HUBBALLI/BALLARI : The efforts of local conservationists working in Ballari district are finally bearing fruit, as the State Government has decided to declare a large patch of area as the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) Protected Zone.
About 20 villages in Siraguppa taluk have been identified and around 1,000 acres of buffer land of grasslands will now be declared as the GIB Community Conservation Reserve. This could be Karnataka’s last-ditch effort to save the critically-endangered bird, which now numbers less than 200 in the entire country.
"There have been efforts to save the Great Indian Bustard for many years. A few years ago, the number of these birds were at 26-28, and now their numbers have dwindled to 8-10 in Siraguppa. There are reports of sightings of these birds in other parts of Ballari, which are also being looked into," Rameshkumar P, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ballari, told The New Indian Express.