BALLARI: Here’s some good news for wildlife enthusiasts. A research centre to conserve the rare Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is all set to come up in Ballari district. This comes after a team of Forest Department officials and wildlife experts visited the Desert National Park, which is home to many GIBs, at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan to carry out a study. The Karnataka government has agreed to sanction Rs 24 crore to set up the research centre in Ballari.
In Karnataka, Siruguppa taluk has a GIB conservation area, which has the last surviving six birds in the state. The Ballari division forest department has submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the research centre project.
Sandeep Suryavanshi, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Ballari, said, “A DPR on starting the research centre has been submitted to the government and we have also approved Rs 24 crore to start the research unit in Ballari district. Besides setting up the centre, habitat improvement and conservation breeding of GIB will also be undertaken here,” he said.
Recently, a team from Ballari district visited the Desert National Park located in Jaisalmer, he said. “Rajasthan has the highest number of GIBs in the country. Rajasthan has set up a research and breeding unit. GIB egg protection was the main challenge which has been successfully addressed by the Rajasthan forest department. Sometimes the eggs are preserved and developed in the laboratory. We are planning a similar set up in Ballari,” the official elaborated.
Forest Department officials noted that in July this year a pair of GIB was sighted in Siruguppa conservation area. “The sighting has motivated us to protect the last remaining batch of GIBs in Ballari,” a forest official said.