-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
1/22
Two bullets fired at Prince of Hungary Arc Duk
Ferdinand Franz and Sophie Maria his wife, th
Duchess of Hohenberg, killing them in Sarajev
instantly which triggered world war I in 1914. Duk
couple an hour before their assassination.
Non-Fiction-Tale
A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms CatastropheHarrowing story of Great Indian Bustard on Indian Soil
A heartbreaking chronicle of a bird, every attempt to killing of which brought upheaval, calamity an
disaster in South East Asian Subcontinent. Any thought of obliteration of shelter of which brough
misfortune of famines and widespread devastation, any act of annihilation of habitat of whic
brought tragedy of death and destruction leading to one of the most bloodthirsty world war.
This is a story of an innocent Great Indian Bustard, that caused the alarm, fear and consternation on a wide an
extensive landscape of Indian subcontinent, which in India has been left, unheeded for too long. A chronicle of brutal murder of a giant-beautiful-fowl which has all the raison-detre subconsciously to trigger death of largepart of the mankind in the world. A dazzling and splendid big-feather-ill-fated-bird, which could have been mobefittingly called a NATIONAL BIRD OF INDIA. The bird, destruction of which had been an instinctive cause i
driving famines, death and destruction of humanity. Indian Maharajas, European Kings and mediaeval thugstarted exterminating across-the-board beautiful habitat of this bird with a deadly passion of hunting, poachinand widespread shooting. Owing to viciously-exploitative colonial-policy-of-land-tenures, open-grassland
home-range of this largest-flying-creature-in-India started getting diminished forever. Hunting Viceroys likLord Linlithgow 1943, Lord Archibald Wavel, Lord Curzon 1905, Lord Reading, Shahs of Iran, King of Nepa
King of Afghanistan, King of Malaya, Prince of Germany, Prince of Wales, who visited India at the turn of thlast century, on a historical shooting spree, destroyed plenty of these and other birds, which in chain reaction
swept across its wide ranging shelter. Exceptional-shooting-extravaganza of Archduke Ferdinand Franz of Austr1893 in India, who was maddeningly obsessed in killing of the birds, the act of such royal big guns thrashed thfar-reaching south Indian peninsular dominion of largest home range of this Indian-Ostrich. A bird which, howl
like a tiger, a big fowl which sprints like a camel, a beautiful bird, famous for its elegant courtship-ballet-danc
with a sound of mellifluous-resonance,-the fashionable hunting of which brought not only famines, naturaresource-scarcity, deprivation, but also food insecurity, death andstarvation across the whole South Asian Continent. The last ray ofhope still persists to help flourish this critically endangered
ecosystem. Hope we may act now...A K Singh
Two fires were shot at Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, onepierced his skull and another ruptured his windpipe which
further penetrated his wifes abdomen. Thus ended the daredevils life of game hunting and shooting. The assassination cast
the epoch into a worldwide conflagration. But what were the
reasons behind the man whose ferocious death triggered World
War I ? He was heir-presumptive to the Austro-Hungarianthrone and his over ambitious zeal of being despotic and
repressively authoritarian was far-exceedingly-volcanic" which
considered him "irascible bastard.". He was notoriously-disreputable for his passion for blood-sport-shooting and
hunting. He brought down 274,889 game animals all over theworld as "feudal-mass-slaughter towards the first part of the
twentieth century1. Royal prince of Hungary had an
unimaginably fascinating flavor of shooting over 5,000 stags
before a bullet ended his own life. Franz Ferdinand, Archduke
of Austria, was murdered on June 28, 1914, when a Serbnationalist, opened fire point blank at his open motorcar, as it
drove through the streets of Sarajevo finishing the ghost-of-
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
2/22
cascading -malaise, thus lodging a burgeoning-phantom-of-hunting-and-shooting-of-innocent-creatures into
clamorous ending5.
Since her childhood, Sophie Maria the Duchess of Hohenberg of Czech Republic the wife of Archdu
Ferdinand Franz of Austria was fascinated by India.
Ferdinand, a Royal Prince of Hungary, had an excessive
flavor of game shooting. He was over passionate of trophyhunting that was excessive even by the standards of
European nobility of his time. He killed 300,000 games,
5000 of which were deer alone2.Sophie was so predisposed with a splendor of giant
wild animals of India, as she heard about wild beasts like
Lions, Cheetahs, Tiger, Elephant, Wild Boar and other
beautiful birds from her friends, writers, rivalsand peers. She insisted upon Ferdinand to
visit India. By chance, Asif Jah, the Nizam of
Hyderabad Mahboob Ali Khan invited him in1893 for big game hunting. Ferdinand Franz
declared a scientific-and-ornithological
expedition of his around-the-world-journeyon SMS-Kaiserin-Elizabeth-Ship from
1892-93 travelling via Suez Canal to India,
Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and Japan4.
The hot months of April and May when the
jungles of his vast estate were dry and gamewas more easily spotted were considered the
best time for Shikar-Expeditions. Theroyal saloon was shunted to platform at
Hyderabad, one of Nizams private railway
station, was made ready for arrival of the royal couple of Hungary, writes John Zubrzycki in his book-T
Last Nizam, Rise and Fall of Indias Greatest Princely State. stating further-Food for the entire party Ferdinand Franz and Sophie Maria was loaded on the train and attendants at the hunting camp alerted. Rifle
cartridges and all accessories, including gold topped walking sticks for the Nizam were sent ahead to t
faraway jungles of Rollapadu in Karnool in Andhra Pradesh. As the preliminaries were on for huntin
Ferdinand Franz brought down 300,000 trophy games and killed
near 5000 deer in his life thus shooting 25 animals a day on an
average. Notoriously disreputable for blood-sport hunting.
The Great Indian Bustard has the potential of being
called National Bird of India is found associated to
Bengal Florican, Lesser Florican and Houbara Bustard
Sophia Maria and Ferdinand Franz went on their
scientific expedition of the world in January 1893.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
3/22
Ferdinand Franz spinned the silver coin in the air and Mahboob Ali Khan the Nizam of Hyderabad who w
young man of 24 years hit the coin in every attempt, impressed the reckless and impatient young prince Austria the Ferdinand Franz
6. Sophie Maria keen to see the birds and beasts in the wild was impatient
waiting to be there in no time. She heard about Cheetah-tied-bullock-carts and black-buck-hunting-hobb
much prevalent among Mem Sahibs of India. Tents were pitched near the Alaganoor tank which terminat
into Tungabadra river near Nallamalla Forests. A massive tract of forests and the grassland ecosystestretches, as Eastern Ghats which runs
parallel to coromandel-coast close to
Krishna and Pennar rivers as Palnadu basinmerges into Tirupathi hills
26. Sophie was
excited at the picturesque magnificence of
one of the finest grassland ecosystems inthe world which support grassland
specialist birds. From the hills of
Nallamalla, sun rose
the next morning andthe valley was filled
with spectrum of
light amid clouds on
a vast stretch ofgrasslands of
Rollapadu interspersed with thorny bushes and prickly shrubs. Entourage of royal elephants reached the valle
Six bullock carts tied with tamed Cheetahs were pressed into service for hunting expedition. Single barrshotgun she knew are good for feathered small game. Wild game sports of hawking, wild geese, squirrels a
turkeys, she learnt at her infancy. Sophie understood from G P Sandersons memoirs called Thirteen-Yea
Among-Wild-Beasts-of-India, where he opines:-The Great Indian Bustard occurs somewhat plentifu
throughout Mysore-State in the open plains in the vicinity of scrub jungles. I have seen five feedintogether, three commonly. I believe that the Bustards in Mysore State migrate across central and northe
Indian states. It is exceedingly wary. Its note, usually uttered before daylight, is booming cry, not unlike dista
shout, hence it is denominated the bird that calls like a man, ( hookana ) a local vernacular name KoogiHakki
18. Valley of Rollapadu was full of, -told A P Powell, the then British Resident of Hyderabad
black bucks, wolf, jackals, Indian Foxes, Bonnet macaque, Indian Bustards, Lesser Floricans, sparrows a
mynas. The grasslands blossom with Aristida, Chrysopogons, Heteropogans, Sehima, Dicanthium and smtrees like Morinda, Phoenyx etc.
Perched on golden Howda Arcduke Ferdinand flanked with contingent of six elephants accompanied with
P Powell asked to be grounded and to march upon the grasslands on bullock cart. Cheetahs tied with bullo
carts were used extensively for hunting of antelopes specifically black bucks, chinkara, spotted deer. Ferdinan
Ferdinand Franz with Nizam of Hyderabad Mahmoo
Ali and the party of hunters from India during 1893.
Great Indian Bustards used to frequently migrate from Mysore,
Dharwad, Bellary, Gulbarga and Bidar on the borders of Andhra Pradesh
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
4/22
was highly enthusiastic hunter of birds. He knew the hunting of Bustards and Floricans along with black buck
jackals and wolves will be a very stirring experience. And this was an ideal place in India for suchperipatetic-hunting never tasted before.
Powell reminds the view of ornithologist Jerdon to Ferdinand saying,- the bustard frequents bare op
plains, grassy savannahs interspersed with low bushes and occasionally high grass pasture. In the rainy seaso
large numbers may be se
together stalking over tundulating plains of entire centr
India and the most of the Decc
peninsula. I have seen flocks twenty four or more on a small hi
Towards the close of the rains, a
in the cold weather before the longrass is cut down, the Bustard w
often be found, all events in t
heat of the day, concealed in tgrass for eating large grass hoppe
blister beetles, foraging whemillet fields, along the banks
Tungabhadra river and they will fagainst you at every few steps y
take19
. Sophie Maria accompanyi
Ferdinand asked for modern 0.3bore-express-rifle properly suited
the size and strength of a lady not much heavier than a broom. Ferdinand in the front of the fast moving ca
stared at the edge of the large tank and flushed the bird, it took a long flight, with a steady and continue
flapping of its wings at no great height above the ground upto 2 to 3 miles. Bustards, if they dont migrathey change their feeding grasslands much according to the season and the supply of fruits of Ber (Zizyph
Geographical distribution of Great Indian Bustard and occurrence of summer visitorsin Pakistan. Eastern plains of Karnataka from Mysore to Bidar are natural habitat.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
5/22
jujube and Caronda ( Carissa caranda ), plenty of stocks of grasshoppers, beetles, Buprestis, Scarb
caterpillars and lizards that during rains these abound galore in the valleys of rivers and tanks along tagricultural field of wheat, cotton and millets near the waste forest lands. Mahaboob Ali the Nizam w
flanked besides the carts of Ferdinand coup
reminded them of his pursuits of shooting twel
foot alligators on lake from a specially impartsteam yacht and releasing panthers on the pla
and then hunting them on horseback with spea
He was one of the finest shots in India19.Sophie and Ferdinand along the cart ro
alighted on the ground and walked sever
forlongs afar. Then Ferdinand spoke as to hoanother ornithologist Elliot told about t
bustards being polygamous during breedi
season of October to March. All of sudde
Sophie asked the Ferdinand to see the mabustard near the bush strutting about with som
eminence, puffing out the feathers of his ne
and throat, expanding its tail and ruffling
wings, uttering now and then a low, deep,
moaning call heard in peculiar angle way off. It
was a breeding season and expansion of its throatgave spectacular sighting through a pair of
binoculars. Sophie saw with full enthusiasm, first
the male began to strut about, holding its head upas high as if it wanted to lift itself off its legs, then
after a few turns, it puffed out the upper part of the
throat just under the jaws, then drew it again, then
puffed it again and so on, on and on for three to
four times and then suddenly out goes the wholethroat down to the breast called the gular sac, and
that part of the it next the latter swells more and
more, its tail already cocked, begins to turn rightback over the back, and the lower throat bag gets
bigger and bigger and longer and longer till it looks
be within six inches of the ground. All the feather
the throat stand out, and looked at in the front,
seems to have a huge bag covered with feathhanging down between its legs which quiver about
it struts here and there with wings partly unclosed an
occasional sharp snapping of its bill. They saw th
bird from time to time uttering a sort of a deep moand standing quite still and then off it props aga
close upto female and then away from her. On bo
times, they witnessed these antics, the exciteme
Arcduke Ferdinand and Sophia Maria on arrival at Railway
Plateform near Hyderabad January 1893 being welcomed by
Nizam Mahaboob Ali, A P Powell and Prime Minister Nawab
Asman Jah Bashir Ud Daula Bhadur, Photo: Raja Deen Dayal
Ferdinand Franz after tiger hunting in Sariska Alwar Rajasthan
in 1892.Photo b Eduard Hodek Museam of Ethnolo Vienna.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
6/22
appeared gradually to relax with no manifest connubiality. This seemed to be a nautch dance for t
propitiation of the female counterparts19
. Ferdinand again disturbed the flock of bustards and some of thetook long flight with a steady and continued flapping of its wings at no great a height above the ground for fe
furlongs.
Ferdinand almost ridden down one of the
bustard that it became so exhausted after acontinuous flight of 2 to 3 Km that it came
down tired and allowed its capture. Sophie
Marry asked her escorting shikari Abdul as tonoose the bird moving on the bullock. The
fowler with a blanket folder over head and
shoulder with few pegs and gut snared at itsgirdle, encircling gradually approaching
closer and nearer dropping the blanket
throwing up the arms to catch up with the
bustard. Birds run for few yards and then riseand escape in flock of two or three and were
caught by one leg walking across the lines of
snares which were thirty to forty yards. No
sooner Sophie caressed the bird, a flock of 20to 30 bustards was sighted in the vicinity
19.
Ferdinand required shikari Abdul
command cart of cheetah for huntinFerdinand took out the shotgun with a rifl
slug and silencer shot dead four of them
Chasing far spreading birds on fast movi
cart thrilled him. Flushed and disturbebirds started moving. Seven of them we
again brought down with
point blank target and weshot dead. Franz Ferdina
shot and killed so much
wild animals to such
amazing-excess then tnature took its revenge up
him and he was shot a
killed in turn, which furthtook a nasty and revoltin
turn of the first world war. He was one of the
wealthiest men in Austria. He developed three
great passion, hunting, travel and jousting. Despitetumultuous political circumstances in Europe he
found time to travel across the globe and in the
guise of ornithological scientific expedition hespent hunting kangaroos, emus, in Australia,
hawks, eagles, herriers, ducks, geese and vultures
in Europe. Its impossible to know what was on theArchdukes mind during the last decades of thislife, if the past was any indication, it was on guns
and bloodsport-hunting. He left behind in his wake
with a killing-for-killings sake ethos among
Small fraction of Trophies on exhibit at Konopisch castle near Pragstuffed with antiquities which was Ferdinands most inexhaustible
passion of collection of trophies and ostentatious pomposity.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
7/22
princes and kings world wide, his pathological obsession for hunting infested perversion and distortion amon
the ruling class of Europe and Asia. Ferdinand personally dispatched no less than 2,74,889 trophies of variowild animals to his museum at Prague. His favorite castle hunting lodge was Konopischt south of Prag
which became most treasured hunting grounds where he made an ambitious collection of antic firearm
matchlocks, wheel locks, flintlocks and musketry.
Castle is so ghoulishly festooned with exotic animaltrophies that animal kingdom shall be bound to take
revenge from humanity on dooms day3 & 4
.
Ferdinands favorite hunting expedition of all werethe destination hunts and safaris in exotic far east
forests. One article in Sydney Daily describes how
Archduke sitting beneath a canopy, quickly,established himself as a first class marksman as
twenty horsemen and even larger pack of dogs spent
the greater part of the day driving the local wildlife
within shooting range. Newspapers around the worldfull of Archduke praise and admiration of hunting,
shooting and stalking mesmerized the princes
the east for his crafty skill and astute workmansh
of his varied wildlife hunting which was not lethan bloodlust of wild animal sports-killing whi
was far excessive and vulgar7. When Ferdina
started his hunting expedition around the world
Dec 1892 at the age of 28 set sail in cruiser bounfor North America via India, he was accompani
by over 400 sports-hunting amateurs. During t
voyage Ferdinand penned over 2000 pages of hwildlife hunting experience in the world a
nearly forgotten account of his blood thirsty
adventures7. Even as he was slowly
approaching the coast of India, he fired into thewater with a shotgun to kill hundreds of skates,
dolphins, and rays. Later he bagged vultures,
elephants, tigers, sloth bear, skunks, monitorlizards, storks, bustards, floricans and
hundreds of birds. Ferdinand was reported to be
so obsessive and bloodthirsty hunter that he
paid for his pressing-the-trigger-happinesswith permanent damage to his eardrums. His
porters carried 87 tents, bathing cabins, golden
ceilings into the jungles of India. British
governor of Nepal welcomed him when hearrived with an entourage of 203 working
elephants for tiger hunt in the foothills of
Himalayas. When the gold-bedecked Nizam of
Tamed blindfold Cheetah s were used for price catching of
blackbucks and other ungulates during the British Raj for
ro al huntin ex editions over more than last two centuries
Hunting of Busturds, floricans, ducks, geese, coots, cranespheasants, jackals and black bucks was a royal hobby during Britsh
Raj 1857-1943 where millions of such birds were brought down.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
8/22
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
9/22
before so far. Indian princes and Maharaja too got infatuated for development of their skill for hawking, bi
stalking, big game hunting, and shooting the Indian soil. Raja Ranjit Singh, Shah
Iran, King of Nepal, Raja of Mewa
Maharaja of Mysore, started game spo
with renewed vigor with ghost of Ferdinaover powering their body, mind and sou
And started keeping stuffed trophi
decorating their wild animal museumFerdinand Franz became the champion
trophy hunting and idol figure
ornithological shooting in the eyes of nonly among Indian Maharaja but also am
Prince of Wales, Prince of Germany an
King of Malaya. Trophies became t
symbol of status, prestige and eminence the royalty. Maharaja Surajmal Ruler
Bharatpur Rajasthan got Ajan bu
constructed at Keoladev due to which
Km2
area got flooded with water at tconfluence of river Gambhir and Bangan
which was declared as Hunting Reserve for variousaquatic and terrestrial birds later in 1902.
Boundaries of duck shooting were notified and
Keoladeo-Ghana-Reserve became one of the most
coveted and sought after bird hunting and shooting
reserve of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, -quotes Salim Ali
in his autobiography The Fall of A Sparrow- andfurther stateswas declared the fantastic private duck
shooting preserve of Bharatpur Rulers. As long as the
present Maharaja retained his powers there was no
question or thought on his part of voluntary giving uphis shooting rights and converting into a protected
sanctuary. Apart from his casual shooting of ducks,
geese, coots and cranes for sports and the table delicacy,he traditionally used to lay on four big hunting
expeditions every season to which maharajas
India, Nepal, Malaya, princes of Europe a
Middle East, Czars of Russia, Viceroys
Imperial colonies, Governors of states, top civ
servants and military brass of British Empiused to be given royal invitation for pleasu
hunting of birds. Numbered butts were allott
to the guns, distributed in strategic spots aover the lake. The whole operation worked wi
the mechanical precision of an army maneuv
with men of the state forces drilled as beaters keep the birds moving over the guns and n
letting them settle. Enormous holocausts we
accomplished at some of these gargantu
Bidar, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Bellary, Davangere, Koppal, Belgaum, Dharwad,
and Ranibennur in Karnataka are favorable grassland ecosystems
encompassing black bucks, foxes & jackals, where Bustards intermittentlytry to fly over in search of shelter, forage and breeding every year.
A pair of Great Indian Bustard was sighted near
Chelugurki village in Bellary in 2003, 2006, 2008 and
2012 mostly in search of foraging and breeding.
Great Indian Bustards continued to visit Ranibennur Sancuary in
Dharwad for foraging and breeding till the end of the last century.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
10/22
shoots and there are several records of two to three thousand birds killed in a single day, and three records ev
of over four thousand. The all time record bag of 4273 ducks and geese to 38 guns for Keoladeve Ghana wmade in Nov 1938 with Lord Marquis Linlithgow the Ruling Viceroy as the presiding slayer. Although th
British Governor Generals own contribution was not impressive, he did distinguish himself by creating wh
must be surely called a world record, of firing 1900 rounds of 12 bore ammunition from his own shoulder o
that day20
.Seven Lakhs Km
2of lands were lying waste and degraded then adjoining forested hills in the earlier part
the twentieth century in India which remains to be the beautiful habitat and shelter of these beautif
ecosystems of these Black bucks, Foxes, Wolves, Jackals, BustradFloricans, Cheetahs and Leopards.
Lord Cornwallis 1776 onwards brought Permanent Settlement
lands converting Zamindars and tax collectors into landlorddepriving cultivator to mere tenant, creating land allies for Britis
suppression of peasantry by landlords. Right to these lands conferr
on Landlords initially in Bengal and Bihar was alienable, rentable a
heritable. Privilege of utilizing the waste lands had become a saleabgood. Cultivators were occupancy tenants with rights to hold t
lands as long as they pay their taxes for default of which they cou
be evicted. Sizeable lands were sold, alienated and transferred
cultivators f
improvement revenue collecti
which was reported
have effected so call
considerable change better social-econom
situation. Industr
revolution in Engla
and import of che
textile products into India, made indigenous text
cottage industries defunct and labor unemployed, wmigrated to rural areas trying to secure land on lea
for more and more farming. Relations betwe
landlords and cultivators got strained due to t
monopoly of controlling the means to secure livelihooshifted with arbitrary extortion to landlords as t
demand for land increased exponentially whi
mounted pressure on adjoining lands22
.Another land tenure system prevalent during Briti
period was Ryotwari Settlement, established
Madras and Bombay presidencies by Sir Thom
Munroe where landlord Palegars with large estatwere abolished. Hence a need was felt to make
settlement directly with actual cultivators. There was
growing income from land because of periodic revision of revenue under this system this led to diversion millions of hectares of across-the-farm-natural-ecosystems
22. Another significant objective behin
establishment of this system was to protect cultivators from oppression of land lords which was rampant in t
permanent settlement areas. However, there were some drawbacks in the Ryotwari System like exorbitant lanrevenue fixation, government's right to enhance land revenue at its own will, payment of revenue even wh
the produce was partially or totally destroyed and finally replacement of large number of landlords by o
Great Indian Bustard is an ecosystem encompassing beautiful avifauna of lessor florican, houbra
bustards, black bucks, chinkara, neelgai, barking deer, foxes, wolves, jackals and leopards.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
11/22
giant land chieftain i.e. the one princely state. As colonial rule progressed, the typical Indian peasant or
village artisan faced a dual burden. Not only did the traditional feudal form of exploitation greatly intensifthe typical Indian villager was now also subject to the forces of mercantile capitalism. It had its eyes on a
savings or assets that any villager might possess. Eventually, the typical Indian villager was stripped of a
savings, and driven to mortgaging a considerable portion of any assets whether personal jewelry, land a
livestock, or tools and equipment despite getting adjoining good fertile forested but degraded productilands. In the colonial regime, several laws were passed that led to a catastrophic de-urbanization and d
industrialization of India. Trade tariffs and excise duties were set so as to destroy Indian industries, an
squeeze domestic trade. In states like Bihar and Bengal, severe restrictions were placed on the use of inlanwater-ways causing fishing and inland shipping and transportation to suffer
22.
This led to even greater pressures on agriculture since large categories of highly skilled artisans and no
agricultural workers were thrown out ofthe work. When the British left, India had
become the most backward a-poor-
village-based-agricultural-economy
despite possessing millions of hectares ofgood fertile forested areas. India had
inherited one of the most depressing
scenarios in Asia15
. A fairly densely
populated nation with a pitiful urban base,a rural infrastructure in wrecks, a huge
mass of population forced to survive
exclusively on agricultural production andexploitation by thousands of big feudal
intermediaries. However, the increasing
sub-division of land was a constant source
of problems and tensions in the
countryside. There was a wide scale
exploitation of agriculture
laborers and peasants due torevenue intermediaries andaccumulation of land with
very few individuals15
. So the
government in independentIndia had to initiate
appropriate steps towards
reducing these problems andintroduced Ceiling On Land Holdings. As result of this land
distribution in India has been widely iniquitous, unfair and unjust
with 3/4th of fertile land under the ownership of 7% of rural
population while remaining 1/4th of the land highly subdividedand fragmented under ownership of 48% of rural population. The
remaining 45% of rural population were landless or tenant-labors,
of which approximately 25% were working as daily wagers on the
land owned by others. It was therefore natural to expect that
independent India would endeavor to correct inequity in the land
ownership by Ceiling the Land Holdings which were brought
about by another reform like Rationalization of Land Tenure
System. It led to Reform of Tenancy System which wererequired from the viewpoints of economic optimization of agriculture and equitable distribution of lan
People given famine relief by the government at Bellary, Madra
Presidency. Album from the Illustrated London News 1877
People waiting for famine relief in
Bangalore. Album from the Illustrated
London News 20 October 1877
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
12/22
ownership.These three-pronged strategies have been the building blocks of land reform in independent IndLand reform had been recognized and accepted as an important instrument of economic and social change bthese steps created havoc from the view point of environmental stability
15.
The First Five-Year Plan of Government had clearly mentioned the land policy and the specific la
reform measures to be undertaken. Most of the states passed the legislations for abolition of Zamindari an
similar exploitative land tenure systems. Now land tenure systems like Zamindari, Mahalwari, Jagir Inam, etwere abolished in all the states. As a result of abolition of Zamindari and intermediaries, about 26 lak
intermediaries and 20 lakh tenants got proprietary rights of lands i.e. they became the land owners. This w
considered to have had resulted in improving their economic and social conditions but not from tenvironmental point of view. The land revenue
income of the states were also considered to have
increased but at the cost of detriment to the millionsof hectares of across-the-farm-natural ecosystems.
Tenancy reforms were made for the removal of
intermediaries between the state and the landholder.
These reforms aimed to get "Land to the tiller"15
.Millions of parcels of such lands were distributed at
the cost of diversion of good natural ecosystems with
plenty of fairly better bio-diversified flora and fauna.
Emigrant artisans and town workers occupied suchfresh piece of natural lands became the burden on
the beasts. Almost all arid and semi-arid grasslands,
open country with thorny scrubs full of tall grasseslike Aristida, Chrysopogon, Sheima, Dicanthium
interspersed with bushes and scrubs were cleared for
collection of revenue by agricultural cultivation.
Governments never knew that it will have to payheavy prices, in the future, for such a diversion of
vast tract of grassland ecosystems, in terms
compensation for billions of rupees f
environmental catastrophes in the offing which astill being paid intermittently on alternate years f
series of droughts, famines, flooding, cloudburs
cyclonic destruction and climate change.
After Independence considerable importance w
given to collection and maintenance of land records
that they could form the basis of land development the country. These situations helped in development
the present day land records system. Powers
granting lands were given to talluka and distri
authorities. Most of such lands which were considerto have lying waste lands were granted to landle
laborers, poor artisans, unemployed rural manu
workers after independence. There are still 5.5 Lak
hectares of such pasture lands which are considerleft as fallow lands, waste lands which are consider
degraded-waste. But such lands were being used as community-property -resources for livestock grazing in t
grasslands, pasture lands and meadows for local cattle and nomadic graziers15
. Seeing all this, Lord Cliquoted, I ll pronounce Bengal and Bihar to be one of the most wicked places in the universe. Corruptio
licentiousness and want of principle seemed to have possessed the minds of all the British Imperial Civ
Servants. By frequent bad examples they have grown callous, rapacious and luxurious beyond limit31
. La
Bengal Famine took the toll of 2.5 millions of people with
death, disease and destruction over the past two centuries.
Great Indian Bustard continued to be hunted and its habitat
was was continued to be encroached upon over a large part of
India during the last two centuries for betterment of economic
and social conditions.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
13/22
tenures were in the process of reforms, rationalization of the lands were solely for the purpose of collection
heavy revenue that too in cash and in advance. This was a viscous circle of highest order complexity. Aresult of all this around 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition, half of them dying from disease
highest mortality rate being among artisans, small traders struggled to get food. This Bengal famine cause
major economic and social disruption ruining millions of families from Bengal and Bihar.There were series
crop failures, local epidemic pestilence like plague, kala azar, drought and famines all over. Supply of foreduced, demand of food grains rose sky high. Local
unprecedented cyclones, unexpected tidal waves,
thousands of hectares of such freshly occupied landswere swept by heavy winds and torrential rains.
Nature had to take it own revenge31
.
The massive reserved stocks of foods got divertedfor exports, side tracked for support of British Army
on forefront, which killed nearly 1.9 Lakhs cattle and
destroyed the property of 2.5 millions families of
Bengal and Bihar. Fungus causing brown spot hitthe rice crop, Helminthosporium oryzae fungus
destroyed 90% of various rice variety. During 1874,
famine, in British India, swept over 1.4 Lakhs Km2
and destroyed the property of 21.5 million people.Again next year famine sweeping across Madras,
Mysore, Hyderabad and Bombay spreading throughnorth, central provinces and Punjab which covered
an area of 2.57 Lakhs Km2
and caused cataclysmic
havoc on 5.85 Crores of population which increased
the death toll, estimated to be 5.5 million peopleand similar number of livestock
Bellary, Mysore, Bombay an
Hyderabad provinces15
. Gre
famine brought unprecedentcatastrophe to entire Deccan Plate
by crop failure, commodification
grain, cultivation of alternate cropdestruction of adjoining forest
lands, obliteration of contiguo
natural ecosystems and annihilatiof pristine wildlife habitat an
genuine shelter of Great Indi
Bustard.And there were series of
famines causing death a
destruction during British rule India starting from 1769 to 19sweeping across from Beng
Madras, Mysore, Punjab, Rajpootana, Hyderabad, Gujrat, Agra, Delhi, Hissar, Bihar, Bellary, Ganjam, Ajme
Bombay, Bundekhand, Hyderabad to Berar, killing 65 millions of people and their livestock, destroying th
property worth billions of dollars. So called Great Famines caused due to the demolition of shelter of thGreat Indian Bird which seemed to have proved to be so bastard or ominous
16. This portentous ill-om
brought the threatening menace to the successive decades bringing frequent droughts, plagues and famin
intermittently till today. In 1943 Famine Commissions declared that there was no aggregate food shortage India but localized crop failures tantamount to occurrence of droughts and famines. Starvation death took
Victims of terrible famine of 1899 to 1902 in India caused widespread hunger,
long term starvation and pervasive death of millions agro-pastoral communities.
Houbara Bustard is found in deserts and sandy areas of India
and in Pakistan where it is continued to be hunted each year
with 25 permits by govt allowing 100 birds each permit
issued to rulers of Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Bharain, & Dubai.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
14/22
toll among certain landless laborers, artisans, petty traders constituting 50% of rural population belonging t
non-monetized exchange economy who were paid paltry in kind and paltry in cash or in the form of Jajmasystem for reciprocal-cross-sharing-of -fixed-shares in the harvest. Food supply depended on the
employment entitlements or the demand among the primary food producers for their services. But th
were deprived of the means
acquire food. Famine Commissifurther reported, It was due to
cataclysmic break down of social a
economic networks due acquisition of the adjoining lands
emigrated labors towards villag
who were deprived of profits bdependent least wealthy classes f
giving them adequate support. Tho
owning only small plot of land, e
out their livelihood by its profits their wages as laborers and rac
rented-tenants-at-will living almo
hand to mouth16
. They were a lit
way removed from the class of fiellaborers, they possess no credit a
on them pressure soon began
mount leaving them helpless adestitute.Winston Churchil w
found to be lynchpin behind this mess of food-
grains iniquitous supply and diversion off-shorefor war-front deliberately during 1943. Osborne
quoted by Mike Davis on Late Victorian
Holocausts, Famines stating,-Scores of corpses
of humans were tumbled into old wells, because
the deaths were too numerous for the miserablerelatives to perform the usual funeral rites.
Mothers sold their children for a single scantymeal. Husbands flung their wives into ponds, to
escape the torment of seeing them perish by the
lingering agonies of hunger. Amid these scenes of
death the Government of India kept its serenityand cheerfulness unimpaired
16
During the last two centuries major portion of
live forested ecosystems adjoining to thevillages, contiguous to the agricultural lands, in
the vicinity of forests which used to be thewonderful pristine ecological-bio-diversified-
network to the tune of 85 million of hectares isreported to have been granted as record-of-rights
constitute the tragedy of commons resulting in
the depletion of shared local natural resourceswhich proved contrary to the long term best interests of the local folks which ultimately meshed econom
growth and sustainable development. Inspite of bearing the brunt of loss of more than a billion of killing
humans and livestock, despite inflicting ecological damage to the property worth billions of dollars wcouldnt forge till today right ecological perspective with nature and natural resources.
Bustards breed during March to September. Fluffy white feathers the male are inflated and displayed in courtship along with gu
sac which opens under the tung, swelling it so that a large wobb
bag appears to hang dwon from the neck. Tail is held cocked
over the body and it raises a huge resonating voice (hookan
mostly heard upto a distance of half a Kilometer.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
15/22
Such Agro-pastoral-lands constitute beautiful habitat of such a unique ecosystems of varied species
avifauna, reptiles, black bucks, wolf, foxes and jungle cats. Asad Rahmani Director Bombay Natural Histosociety and Senior Scientist, Y V Jhala Wild Life Institute of India 2010 claim, -such an open nesti
ecosystem render these lands vulnerable to the threat of extinction from habitat conversion to agricultu
cultivation, infrastructural development, road networking, trench cum mound ripping plantations and loc
hunting for its eggs and meat.There were 1260 numbers of Great Indian Bustards in India, 745 by 1978, 600 2001 which are currently left with 300 restricted to fragmented pocke
in six states of Rajasthan Jailsalmer, Barmer , Bikaner Pali and Ton
Districts (125 Birds), Sholapur, Ahmednagar, Nasik and Chandrapur (50Rollapudu, Ananathpur in Andhra Pradesh (30 ), Kuchch ,Bhavnag
Jamnagar and Surendra Nagar in Gujrat (30), Bellary( 4 ) Gwalior
Madhay Pradesh (10), Kuchch shared with Pakistan (20). Great IndiBustards discovered to have co-evolved with wild ungulates like Spott
Deer, Neelgai, Barking Deer, Black bucks, Indian Gazzel and Chinka
77 million year ago in Africa and old world grasslands of South Ea
Asian Subcontinent. Birds have bro
omnivorous diet of fruits of Ziziphu
Carissa caranda, grass seeds, berrie
rodents, tiny reptiles like Uromastyspiny tailed lizards, insects li
grasshopper, beetle, , food crops li
ground nut, lintel, pods of legumes amillets. Polygamous lekking-mati
system with dominant males showisite fidelity to their display stations a
crucial factors for enhancement of tpopulation of Great Indian Bustard
24.
Govt of India declared eight Gre
Indian Bustard Sanctuary (exce
Karnataka Ranibennur Sanctuary) to maintain small
scattered refuges with large buffers, an age old traditionalbreeding spots, protecting them during breeding season, to
exclude cattle so as to provide habitat suitability, bysecuring activities, like lekking, nesting, chick rearing and
foraging. Grasslands and scrub have been considered as
wastelands and the forest departments action, untilrecently, has been to convert these shelters to forests with
plantations of fuel, fodder, shrub trees even exotic like
Prosopis juliflora, Gliricidia, Eucalyptus, Acacia auriculiformis
under either Social Forestry or compensatory afforestation,development of large water bodies, delineation of reserve grass
lands, resulting in further loss of habitat. Ecologically fragilearea conservation in the fringes of protected areas resulted in
explosion of Black Bucks and Neelgai population hunting ofthem antagonized the local agro pastoral communities entailing
vengeance killing of Great Indian Bustards. Populations of nearly
40 to 50 birds, -with-more breeding females under favorablechances of survival, -with- protected nesting over a vast
stretch,-with-no second year mortality,-with-reduced frequency of catastrophe, -with-no irrigat
inundation of water,-with-no disturbance from cattle and humans, with-plenty of food availability seemto forge the potential to revive and recuperate in the long term. Hunting of males as game birds, can plumm
Bustard is geographically distributed in entire old world India,
Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Africa.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
16/22
even the largest population to extinction for example in neighboring Pakistan. Low intensity of poaching India still continues specifically in western Rajasthan and Kachch shared with Cholistan desert and SindPakistan where 49 birds were hunted out of 63 that were sighted over a period of 4 years. This level of remov
is unsustainable and threatens the extinction of the largest global western Indian population within next years
24.
Next day immediately after the rains, Sophie Maria stared at the flock of around 30 to 40 Great IndiBustard behind the bushes near the tan
through her binoculars. Sun was fiery oran
hot, clouds just subsided, and reflectance the light was enabling everything to
observed crystal clear. Bustard bird about
meter height with a black cap was contrastinwith pale head and neck. Bird with a bo
with a brownish to black patch spotted
white was moving with frequently pulverizi
well developed gular pouch which weinflating with its deep resonant hoonkan
calls. This could be heard even by a farm
from half a kilometer. Bird was carryi
young chicks under its wing. Male in tadjoining, started inflating fluffy wh
feathers with frequent puffing of its gular s
which opens under the tongue. Large wobbbag appeared to hang down from the nec
Tail was held cocked up over the body. Ma
also raised its tail and started folding it on itsback. Male was periodically producing a
resonant deep booming call which was being
heard by Sophie. Wow ! Such a wonderful
resonating voice ! Sophie screamed in a flurryof excitement. It was a scientific ornithological
expedition of the prince of Hungary which
necessitated plenty of crucial information.
Perhaps this was an advance booming call formating and courtship. Abdul said to Royal
Highness,- the hens lay a single egg in and
unlined scrape on the ground madam. Onlyfemales incubate and take care their young
chick. The eggs are at the risk of destruction
from ungulates and cows. Sophie asked out ofcuriosity if some eggs could be made visible.Abdul went nearby then the hen started
making distraction display flying zigzag away
from its egg. More than half of the total
number of eggs are either eaten away ordestroyed or predated by wolf, crow, jackals, monitor lizards and mongoose and half of them are left f
hatching. Abdul told, out of 10 eggs left here madam, jungle crow predated on two eggs and Indian fox
five eggs while one egg was trampled by cattle, one egg was found infertile and two eggs were deserted25
. Nsooner Sophie Maria was busy getting acquainted with tale of survival of these birds from Abdul th
Ferdinand Franz rode on the horse along with Mahaboob Ali the Nizam, strolling slowly towards the flock
birds behind the bushes took the target from his shot gun and brought down fourteen of them one by one.
Austro-Hangarian Troops executing captured Serbians. Serbia lost
about 850,000 people during the war. It sparked off world war I.
Brutality of imperial forces, corruptible race superiority, strugglefor indecent arms race, tyrannical nationalism & war mongering
led to World War I and the Great Depression as result of market
crash, rich and poor divide, cash-cropping, mining & logging.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
17/22
German historian Michael Freund described Ferdinand Franz as-man of uninspired energy, dark
appearance and emotion, who radiated an aura of strangeness, whose devilish-obsession murdered colossrate of innocent natural creatures, a man who cast a shadow of violence and recklessness. Having hunt
hundreds of thousands of bird and wild animals, in disguise of Royal Ornithological Scientific Expedition
birds and wild animals for trophies couple returned back to Veinna2. They had been previously attacked wh
a grenade was thrown at their car in the wake of Ferdinands advocacy of tripartite combination of AustrHungary cum-Slavic-Kingdom which was
vehemently dissented by Slavic. Ferdinand
deflected the grenade and it detonated farbehind them
4. He was known to have
shouted in anger to local officials, So you
welcome your guests with bombs ? Theroyal couple insisted on seeing all those
injured at the hospital. After travelling there,
Franz and Sophie decided to go to the
palace, but their driver took a wrong turnonto a side street of Sarajevo, where Princip
the murderer spotted them. As the car was
backing up, Princip a Slavic antagonist
approached and shot Sophie in the abdomenand Franz Ferdinand in the jugular.
Ferdinand was still alive when witness
arrived to render aid. His dying words Sophie were, Dont die darling, live for o
children. Princip had used the Browni
0.32 ACP cartridge, a relatively low-powround, and a pocket-sized FN model 19
pistol. The archdukes aides attempted
undo his coat but realized they need
scissors to cut it open. It was too late. H
died within minutes. Sophie also died route to the hospital. And thus ended the li
of a great hunter the world has witness so faThe assassination of Ferdinand Franz d
provide a spark that put the wheels in moti
for the most deadly confrontation on brut
forces of imperialism, a fiercely venomopowers of nationalism who were destroyi
the nature and natural-resources the wor
over, a ferociously cruel empires of militarism who were wreaking a havoc on innocent humans and othcreatures, violently merciless forces which were indulged in nefarious designs of nuclear arms race w
destroyed cities, towns and jungles of India, Japan and other island nations2
.Ferdinand Franz seemed to be haunted with the dead evil after committing a ruthless murder of enormou
wild animals all over the world, a phantom of malevolent-wicked-spiritafter slaughtering recklessindiscriminate rate of birds, a ghost weird-with-bad-omen- as if entire animal kingdom wanted to take
ghoulish revenge from the humanity which perpetrated long term injustice to them. Slavic nationals flew inthe paroxysm of rage with long standing simmering of their revengeful feelings for this despotic and notorioukiller of birds and blood-thirsty hunter. His wild life hunting expeditions and point blank expertise of shootin
became the object of abhorrence, hatred and abomination by larger part of the Slavic communities. H
manifest conduct of spontaneous outbursts seemed to be nothing but the his over-confident tone of tyrannicrepressive spirit. Perhaps the nature wanted to take its own revenge. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand add
50 million people felled by pandemic bird flue (Spanish Influenz
Virus) H1-N1, killing 9.3 million soldiers spreading toward
almost every part of the globe wiping out number of communities.
Soldiers who contracted Avian Influenza Pandemic Spanish Bird
Flue Virus H1N1 at Camp Funston during March of 1918 which
rendered millions of people sick the world over, tent hospitals had
to be set up to deal with the crisis costing millions of pounds.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
18/22
fuel to fire. Since long there was a scene of simmering high tension among Great Powers of British, Franc
Russia and Japan on one side and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey on the other. Resurgenof brutality of imperial forces of British empire, long term exploitation of proletariat in Russia, arms-rac
for preparation of large scale war. Three years of horrific slaughter had bled the notoriously brutal nations
entire Europe. Daily life in miserable trenches drove men insane, constant artillery bombardment kille
thousands without warning, massive infantry assaulted through barbed wire and machine guns massacr
millions of humans, livestock and other animals. Disease of Pandemic Bird-Flue spread during 1918
entire Europe which engulfed entire globe leaving about 50 millions of people dead from the outbreak
H1N1 influenza spreading from soldiers to ruling classes whichwiped out almost 5% world population at the time, making it one of
the deadliest natural disasters in the human history. Country in the
center of the Europe the Spain was hard hit. It was described thegreatest-medical-holocaust in history of the world. Contrastinglymost amazing outcome was that this Bird-Flue-Virus did not affect
weak, feeble and famine affected frail people, instead, 1918 pandemic
killed predominantly healthy young adult humans attacking first theKing Alfonso XIII of Spain
31.
Under British regime, pastoral meadows and uncultivated common
natural lands were considered uneconomic-wastelands that were
granted, owned, taxed and brought under the agricultural cultivation.After independence, the focus on agricultural productivity and land
reforms caused a further acquisition of pastoral-common lands. Out
of 15% of the total geographical area of India, 23% is communitypasture and grazing lands and 16% remains to be village forests,deemed forests and thickly wooded areas left for maintaining these as
grassland ecosystems in juxtaposition to each other. For example in
rural Punjab people set about acquiring 20 Lakh acres of commongrazing lands, expropriating pastoralists, setting up agricultural colonies, constructing canals and granti
blocks of lands to peasants. Arid-pastoral lands become the spool of poverty, ignorance and oppressio
Commercial agricultural cropping of notorious cotton extended into the village commons displaced the catthuge livestock and pastoral communities in Hyderabad-Berar state leading to vicious spell of drought, famin
crop failures, compelling the farmers to committing suicide with alarming regularity53
.
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
19/22
India inherited the British System of Administration, British Legal System and British System of Land Tenu
as a result of which country faced series of terrible famine and enormous shortage of fodder and firewood ttoday. Large agricultural land holdings were forcibly divided, parceled out and distributed to landle
communities. Under mounting pressures of Dalit movements small portions of land unfit for cultivation we
granted to them most of whom never practiced agriculture. Collective struggle and personal tussle to be ab
to own land by these communities turned into a never ending battle to keep small parcels of land alive anunder the same crop cultivation for decades together. Litigations piled in the court of law
54.
Very soon the division of land ended up dividing communities leading to income disparities and widesprea
discontent, for now mavillages had lost the
common grazing lands
private ownership, who wefinally pushed out of the
village grazing lands a
commons, migrating fro
one village to other towand even far flung cities
other states in search
fodder, fuel and sustenanc
Private ownership alienatsuch lands for commerc
use of civil and oth
business constructionGovernment desire to grow
more-food rendered agr
pastoral-commons and grazing grounds to crop cultivation. New irrigation schemes and Green Revolution lto phenomenal increase in bumper crop production. Green Revolution prompted more and more lands to
acquired for agriculture and milk production from which emerged out a White Revolution. Drought Pro
Area Programs DPAPs were launched for more and
more soil and water conservation which culminated
into enthusiastic Water Shed DevelopmentPrograms. This imposed ban on livestock grazing
and enforced prohibition of cutting, lopping andtopping of fodder and firewood
53.
Outcome, those communities that were landless and
depended on village commons migrated out of these
watershed areas. It was expected that fodder wouldbe regularly lopped, cut and given for stall feeding
to dairy livestock. Till it could happen, communities
migrated leaving the ungrazed-grasslandsabandoned, catching fire when summer winds dried
them. The desire was not so much to provide thepeople around with an available natural resources, rather to keep them, who depended on the commons, o
Fast growing and high yielding species, which did not have any special value of fodder or fuelwood weplanted massively over vast tracts of such lands. Eucalyptus was a favorite species which largely benefited t
paper and pulp industries was afforested on mass commercial scale which seemed to have altered the habi
use of these birds. Fear of rapid desertification propelled the forest department and other agencies to plaProsopis-juliflora in Rajasthan and exotic Accia auriculiformis, Cassia siamia, Glyricidia in Karnataka f
improvement of degraded areas, on a considerable vast tracts of lands which altered and changed the basi
landscape-configuration and natural fabric of such agro-pastoral-lands wherein this ecosystem had to further nourished and improved for facilitating favorable habitat of these birds
52.
Ranibennur Sanctuary in Karnataka is a favorable habitat for Great Indian Bustards
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
20/22
Livelihood-insecurity and food-uncertainty haunted the nomadic seasonal cattle graziers to wander lo
distances hither and thither. Forest Rights Act 2006 granted legal recognition to millions of forest dwellincommunities over these earlier abandoned millions of hectares of agro-pastoral-forested-tracts mountin
unprecedented pressure over the territory of Great
Indian Bustard. Now, with the advent of climate
change, mitigation and adaptation programs, such-non-cultivated-wastes have been taken for Clean
Development Projects CDM or REDD+ to convert
these into economically productive agriculturallands, plantations or afforestation which could serve
as carbon-sinks51
.Bio-Fuel, bio-diesel, wind energy and solar powerprojects will further have an overriding impact on
such gorgeously beautiful landscapes. Due to
myopic- land-distribution and the ambiguity arising
from segregated ownership between private,community and government bodies, encroachment
ensued in many bustard areas, especially in and
around bustard sanctuaries of Maharashtra, Kachchh and other habitats. Activities such as mining, ston
quarrying, growth of industries and power projects along with the expansion of roads, electric poles, winturbines and other infrastructures have increased the ruthless destruction of habitat and inflicted disturban
beyond expectation .Traditionally, grasslands and scrub have been
considered as wasteland and the Forest Department, until recently,has been converting beautiful pastures into forests with plantations
of fuel/fodder shrub/tree species, even exotics likeProsopis
juliflora, Gliricidia andEucalyptus spp, under social forestry andcompensatory afforestation schemes in view of the Forest
Conservation Act 1988, resulting in further loss of the habitat.However, the current threats were mostly from habitat loss and
degradation, caused by widespread agricultural expansion and
mechanization of farming, infrastructural development such asirrigation, roads, electric poles, wind turbines, civil-constructions,
mining and industrialization, well intended but ill-informed habitatmanagement. With increased availability of water due to encouraging irrigation schemes, agriculture h
spread over vast aridsemiarid grasslands50
.
Though some protected areas have been specifically established for flourishing this ecosystem. Sonkhaliy
Sarson, Lala-Naliya, Gaga-Bhatiya, Karera, Ghatigoan, Nanaj and Ranibennur. Very good populations occur Desert National Park in Rajasthan and Rollapadu in Andhra Pradesh. Bustards seem to have abandon
Karera, Gaga-Bhatiya and Ranibennur probably due to habitat alterations. Revival of grasslands, maintenan
of arid and semi-arid-grasslands, used as agro-pastoral-landscape, with scattered short scrub, bushes and lointensity cultivation, in flat and gently undulating terrain, will definitely improve foraging and lekking sit
Birds congregate in less-disturbed-traditional-grassland-patches to breed during mid-summer and pomonsoon for nesting in open grounds for laying one or at the most two eggs per year. Thereafter it resorts
local and long-distance-nomadic-migration in response to better availability of fruits, berries, in response obtainability of insects and grains surrounded by protected natural grass-scrub habitat for free navigation.
requires different assortment of favorable micro-habitat of grasslands with relatively tall vegetation on slight
elevated undulations of ungrazed-fields with sparse vegetation, with minimal scrub, for roosting and moderavegetation for shade and resting
24.
In order to enhance the population of GIB the Great Indian Bustard and to restore such a vast grassla
ecosystem which prosper under slightly better diversified flora and fauna, we need 1) To make efforts fecological restoration of maximum possible extent of undisturbed arid grasslands, 2)To check degradati
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
21/22
-
7/27/2019 A Critically Endangered Bird That Alarms Catestrophe
22/22
14. Excess Mortality During the Great Bengal Famine. ARevaluation in the The Indian Economic and Social History
Review 1991.
15. Amartya Sen. Poverty and Famines. An Essay on Entitlementand Deprivation 1981 Oxford University Press.1981.
16. Churchills Secret War. Madhushree Mukerjee17. Bird Life International. 2001. Threatened birds of Asia: the Bird
Life International Red Data Book. Bird Life International,
Cambridge, U.K.18. G P Sanderson. Thirteen Years Among Wild Beasts of India
1856 Mysore State.London Press.
19. Allen O Hume( Ornitohologist, Founder of Indian NationalCongress) and Marshall Game Birds of India, J E Gray Notes
20. Salim Ali, The Fall of A Sparrow.21.Notes on Sports and Ornithology Crown Prince Rudolf of
Austria by C G Danford 4 th August 1888
22. Revenue Settlements by Sir Thomas Munroe Presidency ofMadras.
23. Sridhar, S. 2005. Bustards are wearing thin in GhatigaonSanctuary. Newsletter for Birdwatchers45(1): 4.
24. Rahmani, A. R. 2006. Need to start Project Bustards. Rahmani,A. R. Y V Jhala 2006. Need to start Project Bustards & Running
Out of Time. Great Indian Bustard.
25. Mathew, R. M. 2007. The plight of Rollapadu Great IndianBustard Sanctuary, Andra Pradesh. Indian Birds 3(4): 153)
26. K Thulsi Rao and S M Maqsood Javed The Great Indian Bustardin and Around Rollapadu Wild Life Sanctuary Andhra Pradesh
India Novmber 2005.
27. Kumara, H. N, Mohan Raj, V. V. 2007. 11. The Great IndianBustard Ardeotis nigriceps: are they disappearing in Karnataka
? Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 104(2): 211-
212.
28. Anon. Submitted. Species Recovery Plan: The Great IndianBustard Ardeotis nigriceps. Government of India, New Delhi.
29. Dutta, S. In prep. Ecology of the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotisnigriceps) in Kachchh, Gujarat with reference to resource
selection in an agro-pastoral landscape. PhD thesis. ForestResearch University.
30. Dutta, S.; Rahmani, A. R.; Jhala, Y. V. 2010. Running out oftime? The Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps - status,
viability, and conservation strategies. European Journal of
Wildlife. Detailed species accounts from the Threatened birds of
Asia: the Bird Life International Red Data Book (BirdLife
International
31. Banerjee, A. and Iyer, Lakshmi (2001), The Imperial Legacy:Colonial Land -Tenure System in Independent India
32. Jan Oosthoek, An Environmental History of State Forestry inScotland, 1919-1970 (Ph.D. University of Stirling, 2001), 21-
22.Mark L. Anderson, A History of Scottish Forestry, vol. 2
(London: Nelson, 1967), 319, 329.
33. Berthold Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India (Calcutta: Officeof the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1900)
34. Ahiraj M (2008) Great Indian Bustard found in Bellary pocket.The Hindu, 14 July.
35. Huge Cleghorn shared the post of Inspector General of Forestsin India with Dietrich Brandis..Hugh Cleghorn, Address
Delivered at the Twenty-first Annual Meeting, Transactions of
the Royal Scottish Forestry Society, 7 (1875), 206.
36. E.P. Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. 1 (London: The BoHead Ltd., 1922), 61-62.
37. Ramachandra Guha, Forestry in British and Post-British IA Historical Analysis,Economic and Pol
Weekly, October 29 (1983), 1883-84.
38. Richard Grove, Ecology, Climate and Empire. ColonialismGlobal Environmental History(Cambridge: The White H
Press, 1997), 5-6, 11-20.
39. John M. MacKenzie,Empires of Nature and the NaturEmpires. Imperialism, Scotland and the Environment
Linton: Tuckwell Press, 1997), 44, 70
40. Sir Richard Temple, Lecture on the Forests India,Transactions of the Scottish Arboricultural Society
(1881), 17.
41. Milward, The Indian Forest Service: Its Origin Progress, The Empire Forestry review, 26 (1947), 184
42. E.P. Stebbing, The Forests of India, Vol.2 (London: The BoHead Ltd., 1923), 4, 42-43; Hartig Stiftung,Biograp
Beduetender Hessischer Forstleute (Wiesbaden: Georg Lu
Hartig Stiftung, 1990), 633.
43. Dietrich Brandis, The Proposed School Forestry, Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricu
Society, 12 (1890),
44. Frederic Bailey, The Indian Forest School, Transactions oRoyal Scottish Arboricultural Society, 11(1887), 155.
45. Brandis, The Proposed School of Forestry, 72; SaldaColonialism and Professionalism,
46. Harold K. Steen, The first American Forestry Award, ForToday, Spring (2000), 42-43.Judith Tsouvalis & Ch
Watkins, Imagining and Creating Forests in Britain, 1
1939, in: Mauro Agnoletti and Steven Anderson, F
History: International Studies on Socioeconomic and F
Ecosystem Change (Wallingford: CABI Publishing, 2000),
47. Charles J. Taylor, Forestry and Natural Resources inUniversity of Edinburgh. A History (Edinburgh: Departme
Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Edinburgh, 19
3.48. John D. Matthews, Henry Marshall Steven, Year Book O
Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1968-69; Charles J. Taylor, M
AndersonScottish Forester,Scottish Forestry 36 (1982),
49. Miri M (ed). 1993. Continuity and Change in TSociety.IIAS, Shimla (Roy Burman B K Tribal Popula
Interface of Historical Ecology. pg 175-216)
50. Shah G, Sah D C (ed). Land Reforms in India. PerformanceChallenges in Gujarat and Maharashtra. 2002. Sage, New De
51. Bokil M. Privatisation of Commons for the Poor. EmergenNew Agrarian Issues. Economic and Political Weekly.Vo
No 33. pg 2,254-2,260
52. Puskur R, Bouma J, and Scott C. Sustainable LiveProduction in Semi-Arid Watersheds. Economic and Pol
Weekly.July 31, 2004. pg 3,447
53. Ghotge N S. 2004. Livestock and Livelihoods, the InContext.CEE India and Foundation Books, New Delhi
54. Ghotge N S, Ramdas S et al. BT Cotton and its EffecLivestock. Issues of Concern for Animal Health and
Safety.Paper presented at the 9th Annual Conference o
Indian Society for Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxico
Anand, Gujarat
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2767#FurtherInfohttp://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2767#FurtherInfohttp://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2767#FurtherInfohttp://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2767#FurtherInfohttp://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2767#FurtherInfohttp://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2767#FurtherInfo