Supreme Court steps into to save two endangered bird species
Supreme Court of India
In a move to save critically endangered birds such as the Great Indian Bustard and its smaller cousin Lesser florican, the Supreme Court of India has said that overhead power transmission lines in the desert national park in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district and the surrounding area must go underground.
The top court said around 15 per cent of the two species have been dying every year due to collision with overhead power transmission lines in their flight path.
The judges were hearing a petition filed by wildlife activists saying that even though both the birds are protected under the wildlife protection act, they face the threat of imminent extinction.
The plea blamed mortality caused by collision with power transmission lines and wind turbines, depletion of grasslands, hunting, development of mines and human habitation in and around their habitats.
The Great Indian Bustard is a tall bird with a wingspan of over two metres. It is the state bird of Rajasthan, their number has sharply declined from an estimated twelve hundred sixty in 1969 to just 150 in 2018.
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The Lesser florican is the smallest bird in the Bustard family and weighs around 500 to 750 grams. It is found only in India. Their numbers have declined in a similar pattern from over thirty five hundred in 1999 to less than 700 in 2018.