“Last month brought good news for the great Indian bustard, a critically endangered bird found mainly in India,” reports the BBC:
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.
The great Indian bustard may not be as well known as the peacock (India’s national bird) but it’s just as impressive…The massive bird, which weighs between 33-40 pounds, is one of the biggest flying birds in India….The shy bird plays an important role in the food chain by preying on rodents, snakes and other pests.
Recently, a long-lost species of butterfly returned to Pittsburgh.
Giant pangolins have returned to Senegal after being absent for many years.
A dog recently discovered a species of mole long thought to be extinct, De Winton’s golden mole.
Sturgeons recently returned to Sweden, a century after they disappeared.
In Spain, the Iberian lynx is no longer endangered.
