Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary
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| Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary Maharashtra | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
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 Interactive map of Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary Maharashtra | |
| Coordinates | 17°49′36.2″N 75°52′10.9″E / 17.826722°N 75.869694°EGoogle Maps |
| Area | 122,200[1] hectares (472 mi2) |
Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary (established in 1979, also known as the Jawaharlal Nehru Bustard Sanctuary of Maharashtra) is a wildlife sanctuary for the great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) at Solapur, Maharashtra, India. The land is drought-prone and semi-arid.[2] It is in the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion.[3]
Maharashtra is one of the six states of India where great Indian bustards (Ardeotis nigriceps) are still seen. The great Indian bustard at Nannaj and Karmala was first identified By Mr B.S.Kulkarni in 1972 and with his constant efforts to save the bird had resulted in Dr. Salim Ali visiting Nannaj and starting a research project. Mr Kulkarni wrote extensively in local newspapers and made people aware of its existence and he is still active in trying to protect the bird and its habitat at Nannaj, near Solapur. In former days the bustard was a common bird in the dry districts of Maharashtra.
- Coordinates - 17°49′36.2″N 75°52′10.9″E
- Year of establishment- 1979
- Size - 849,644 hectares (3,280.49 mi2)
- Climate - Dry, mild winter. Hot summer (40 °C to 43 °C )
- Temperature - 13 °C to 42 °C
- Topography - Gentle undulations, with isolated hillocks of 450-500 msl.
- Habitat - 6A/01 Southern Tropical Thorn Forest (Champion and Seth 1968)
- Biogeographic Zone - Deccan Peninsula
- Breeding Status - Breeds in Nannaj and some other DPAP plots.
- Nesting season - Monsoon (July–October)
- Figure of bustards according to census 2009 - Total 21 ( 13 females and 8 males)
Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) Plots
In 1975 the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), financed by the World Bank, was initiated in Solapur district . Establishment of pastures and woodlots by the forest department under DPAP resulted in regeneration of wildlife, benefited by the protection of their habitat (Rahamani, A. R. Final Report 1989, BNHS).
Habitat types in Nannaj plots
Habitat of Nannaj can be broadly divided into five main types (Manakadan, R. and Rahmani, A. R. 1986 Annual Report No. 3, BNHS, Rahmani, A. R. Final Report 1989 BNHS).
- Grassland plots - Mardi 100 and Mardi 50 plots are pure grassland, with few young Acacia nilotica trees and Cassia auriculata bushes. Prominent grasses are Aristida funiculate, Aristida stocksii, Chrysopogon fulvus, Heteropogon contortus, Lodhopogon tridentatus, Melanocenchris jacquemontii.
- Woodlot (Nannaj plots)- In some of the areas the following trees were planted by the forest department: Acacia nilotica, Albizia lebbeck, Gliricidia sepium, Dalbergia sissoo, Azadirachta indica, Hardwickia binata, Sapindus emarginatus and Tamarindus indica. These plots have become extremely thick in the past years, and the grassland has been converted to woodland.
- Grazing land
- Stony grazing land
- Crop fields
Habitat utilization and preference by great Indian bustard
Maximum sightings of bustards are seen at pure grassland areas, and no bird is recorded in dense woodlots. Bustards prefer wide open short grass plains and open scrubland with scattered trees. Bustards need open habitat for the following purposes:
- Nesting
- Display
- Foraging
- Roosting
Need for habitat management
Some of the areas like Nannaj 10 ha (close to mardi, 100 hectare) and Karamba (also close to Mardi, 50 hectare) were planted with exotic plant species like Gliricidia sepium, Azadirachta indica. Because of the dense growth of weeds like Hyptis suaveolens and Lantana camara, these areas became dense woodlands.
Pictures taken from Google Earth effectively shows how dramatically habitat has changed from scrubland and grassland to dense woodland. The idea of no tree plantain proposed by some and other are not proper there has to be some trees which are not tall and there has to be the proper grassland so that the bird can hide and fly. If the camouflage is not there the bird has chance to fall prey to poachers.
Recommendations
- No tree planting - It is believed to be better to have less trees or bushes in the core areas than to have too many of them.
- Maintenance of grassland - very thick and dense grasses are not preferred by bustards. In such cases thinning, cutting would be useful to maintain the grassland at the optimum suitability for the bustards.
These recommendations were included in management plan of the sanctuary but nothing much was done for the management of grasslands in Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary, Nannaj, Solapur.
