Last month brought good news for the great Indian bustard, a critically endangered bird found mainly in India.
Wildlife officials in the western state of Rajasthan have performed the first successful hatching of a chick through artificial insemination.
A lone adult male in one of two breeding centres in Jaisalmer city was trained to produce sperm without mating, which was then used to impregnate an adult female at the second centre some 200km (124 miles) away.
Officials said the development was important as it has opened up the possibility of creating a sperm bank.
Over the years, habitat loss, poaching and collisions with overhead power lines have effected great Indian bustards. Their numbers have fallen from more than 1,000 in the 1960s to around 150 at present.
Most of them are found in Jaisalmer and hence, conservation activists say that the bird’s habitat in the city should be protected. But this land is also prime real estate for renewable energy firms, presenting authorities with a unique conservation challenge.
