Migratory houbara bustard from UAE rescued in coastal Maharashtra

A houbara bustard bred in the United Arab Emirates has been rescued in Maharashtras coastal Sindhudurg district, officials said on Saturday.The bird is in good health and it would be released in the deserts of Rajasthan or Gujarat, the winter habitat of these birds, they said.

A houbara bustard bred in the United Arab Emirates has been rescued in Maharashtra's coastal Sindhudurg district, officials said on Saturday.

The bird is in good health and it would be released in the deserts of Rajasthan or Gujarat, the winter habitat of these birds, they said. ''A farmer at Mundage village in Devgad tehsil spotted an exotic-looking bird with a ring on its leg on Thursday evening and alerted forest officials. We went there and took it in our custody,'' said Rajendra Ghunakikar, local Range Forest Officer.

The bird is currently kept at a facility at Kankavali in the district and is in fine health, he added.

Sujit Narawade, assistant director and coordinator at Bombay Natural History Society and project coordinator, Conservation of Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican, said some institutes in the UAE breed these birds in captivity and release them in large numbers as part of conservation efforts. ''These birds generally migrate to the Thar and Kutch deserts every winter from the Middle-East. Sometimes a bird or two stray from the flock and fly to the coastal region of Konkan,'' he said.

''The houbara bustard found in Sindhudurg had a ring and colour band which provided information about its origin. When we contacted the National Avian Resource Centre in Abu Dhabi, they confirmed that the bird was from a flock released by them,'' Narawade said.

They also advised that it should be released in the desert region of Gujarat or Rajasthan, he said.

Deputy Conservator of Forests S Navakishore Reddy told PTI that they were in talks with forest officials in the two states and will soon decide where it should be released.

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