Fifty wildlife conservationists in India have taken on the role of "bodyguards" to protect a newborn bird (ardeotis nigriceps) that is threatened with extinction.
The number of these birds, a type of wild turkey that can reach a meter in height, has plummeted in the last 25 years in the deserts of western India. It is estimated that only 150 of them remain, as they fall easy prey to humans and other predators.
"The hatching is a rare and very important moment in our efforts to save the species," said Dhiraj Mittal, an official with the wildlife protection department in Gujarat state, welcoming the first birth of a great Indian eared owl in the region in decades.
"But the difficulties now begin. We have a team of 50 people who are constantly monitoring the mother and her chick," he added.
For his part, India's Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav, also welcomed the birth of the little earwig.
"Our priority now is to protect the bird and the mother from other predators," Mittal said, explaining that employees are "not losing sight of the family."
To achieve reproduction, a laboratory-fertilized egg was transported 800 kilometers and assigned to the last three birds seen in the Kutch desert to hatch it.
India's Supreme Court, in an effort to save the birds, recently ordered the underground laying of high-voltage power lines in the area where the great auks nest. However, the government appealed and overturned the order, arguing that the measure hindered its efforts to develop renewable energy sources, particularly the development of large photovoltaic parks in the area.
