This is after more than two years that GIBs were sighted in the Nagpur Division. N Rambabu, conservator of forests (CF), Nagpur Division, claimed the last sighting of a GIB in the division was recorded on October 1, 2008. "In the past two census, we drew a blank," he said.
The two GIBs -- perhaps male and female - were sighted in a farm at 4.45 pm by a wildlife volunteer Rohit Karoo. Karoo said that one GIB was sighted in the same area two years ago. Since then there were no sightings of the birds.
Gopal Thosar, a veteran bird expert and who has been volunteering to organise GIB census with the forest department, had similar information about the GIBs near Mandwa last month but couldn't sight the bird.
"The information is correct. From 1982 to 2004, two GIBs were sighted every year in Umred tehsil. There may be more birds but as there is no regular monitoring, it is difficult to say how many GIBs are there in the division," Thosar told TOI.
Mandwa, where the birds were sighted, is 58 km from Nagpur. Earlier, a lone GIB was sighted in Temasna village, 22 km from Nagpur on August 3 and again on October 1, 2008.
In the annual exercise conducted from August 3-5, in GIB pockets in Vidarbha, only five birds (two males and three females) were sighted in Warora in Chandrapur district. No GIB was sighted in the Nagpur Division, which had a record of three GIBs.
Similarly, from a record 33 GIBs in 2007, this year, shockingly 9 birds were sighted in Nannaj Bustard Sanctuary. After Rajasthan, Maharashtra comes second in India as far as of GIB population is concerned.
Thosar adds the GIB has adopted flat farmlands as its habitat as grasslands are vanishing. Mines and power plants are emerging threats. Hence, farmers protecting these birds on their land need to be honoured and benefitted.
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